House of Echidna
by Shiloh Moon
Summary: Shortly after the Tucker incident, a new alchemist steps forward to claim Shou's former title. The State readily recruits them for their remarkable chimera-restoring technique, but Mustang sees something much more valuable: a temporary solution to Alphonse's problem.
1. Chapter 1

House of Echidna Ch. 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do, however, own the OCs and the city in which most of the story takes place. **

**Warnings: Foul language, mild violence, FMA-grade tragic back-stories, and horrible puns.**

**Posting Schedule: Every **_**Monday**_** and **_**Thursday**_** until completion. **

**Posting Schedule Note: Just like when I posted Golden Scales, this story isn't complete at the moment of posting this chapter. So, at some point, this schedule may be broken if I can't write new chapters in time for the posting days. I have ten completed chapters right now, so I'm hoping that's enough of a head start to wrap things up before that happens.**

**Summary: Shortly after the Tucker incident, a new alchemist steps forward to claim Shou's former title. The State readily recruits them for their remarkable chimera-restoring technique, but Mustang sees something much more valuable: a temporary solution to Alphonse's problem. **

**Universe: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.**

**Author's Notes (IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!): This entire story deviates from the canon plotline. Literally nothing is the same from the Tucker Incident onward. If you were looking for a story that sticks close to canon events, you'll be disappointed. If you were looking for a story with entirely different events, then you've come to the right place! **

**Another thing: you might've missed out on the deeper meaning behind the title if you don't know who Echidna is. Echidna is a figure in Greek mythology, a monster who was half woman and half snake. She is primarily regarded as the mother of monsters, since she birthed a lot of the more well known monsters in the legends, including the chimera itself. **

**Also: If you're concerned about reading graphic or nightmare-inducing content, don't be. This is not a horror story, unlike a lot of other fics involving chimeras. I will only write what is absolutely necessary to maintain realism, nothing more. Expect a relatively normal story with normal themes, such as family, friendship, humor, and maybe even a little bit of fluffy romance if I'm feeling particularly lovey-dovey. **

**One last thing: This chapter is a lot longer than the rest (7k+ words). The rest of the chapters average at around ****3****k-****4****k words, with an occasional ****2k or ****5k here than there. **

**Without further ado, please enjoy the story! :)**

o.O.0.O.o

After the first couple of weeks passed since the Tucker incident, everything seemed to slowly go back to normalcy. At least, for Mustang they had. The rampant serial killer known as "Scar" had mysteriously vanished. The tension in his men's shoulders slipped away little by little. Fullmetal stormed back into his office, his report in hand, and went right along calling him Colonel Bastard again. Mustang's nightmares had gone back to the usual blood-filled memories of Ishval, instead of that… piteous _thing_ that used to be a girl and her dog.

He'd spoken with all the bio-alchemists he could get a wire out to, and none of them knew a way to undo that deranged man's actions even _if _the poor creature hadn't been murdered. At the time, it nearly crushed his soul to hear. Mustang wasn't simply curious. He wanted to know if the two could've been saved. He _needed_ to know if it was at all remotely possible. Not just for his information, but for him to sleep soundly knowing he could've done something to correct that unholy mistake. And yet, no one he talked to gave him that reassurance.

So when rumors started circulating about an alchemist that could accomplish just what he was looking for, he was more than willing to take Maes' offer to sit in for their State Alchemist exam. Although, even with his enthusiasm to check out the promising lead, he couldn't quite choke the bile all the way down. Even the _thought_ of another chimera-inclined alchemist joining their ranks made him feel nauseous.

Understandably, Mustang found himself deeply conflicted the morning before the exam. His head wanted to know if the rumors were true; if chimeras like Nina and Alexander could really be saved. But his stomach wanted him to hop on the next train for Creta and leave Amestris and all its twisted alchemy behind. Fortunately, at least a hundred different reasons convinced him to stay and watch the exam.

And sure enough, the rumors were true. In front of his very eyes, the woman separated the two animals on the table in almost no time at all. The Fuhrer smiled down at her approvingly. The feat itself was an incredible leap forward in the applications of bio-alchemy. However, Mustang saw something entirely different. He'd come to watch in hopes of gaining peace of mind. Not only had he found it, but he also found a possible alternative to a different problem. A problem that wasn't even his.

Mustang couldn't pretend that he understood everything she'd done, but he was pretty sure the alchemist had brought corpses of the two animal types, and simply transferred the animals' souls to the respective bodies. It was something that had never even occurred to him as a possibility before. He knew Fullmetal had managed to stick his brother's soul to a suit of armor. But Edward received Al's soul from the Gate. Mustang never considered the thought of moving a soul already present in the physical world from one body to another.

It blew his mind, to say the least.

That's when the cogs in his head started turning. Suddenly, his peace of mind was shoved to the far recesses of his mind, and his concern no longer rested with restoring chimeras. If moving a soul from one body to the next was possible without the Gate, then wouldn't it make sense to use that technique to give Alphonse a real body? Although Mustang doubted Fullmetal would be willing to let Al try it right away, he was sure after sincere discussion on the matter the kid would warm up to the idea.

But before Mustang made up his mind about giving the Elric brothers the lead, he had to be sure about what he was dealing with. After all, he didn't want a repeat of the Tucker incident. He needed to know what his subordinate would be getting himself into. He refused to blindly send that kid into hell again. This time, he was determined to see for his own eyes what this alchemist was all about.

Which was why he stood on a half-sunken stone path, in the rain, gazing up at yet another impressive mansion. Just like the morning before the exam, uncertainty and cowardice swam around in his stomach. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself of the facts Maes had gone over with him: this woman had no children, she was _not_ struggling financially, and she had no interest in splicing chimeras. When he opened his eyes and looked up at the mansion again, apprehension slithered its way back into his gut. It only took the edge off.

"Sir?" a curt voice asked.

He looked to his right at his steadfast subordinate. Her falcon-feather colored eyes, while dulled in the dim light, conveyed hints of concern. She stood stern and stiff, her shoulders back and her chin up. Her hand rested on the latch of the iron gate. She wore a look of understanding and sympathy.

Mustang cleared his throat and gave her a quick nod. She unlatched the gate and swung it open.

While they walked up the long path leading to the front of the estate, he couldn't help but take in its grandness in awe. The walls were constructed of black stone, with white marble accents in the trim and the columns that supported the awnings of the wraparound porch. The roof was shingled in what appeared to be thousands of green stone slabs. In the well-lit windows, he could see silky curtains fashioned tastefully behind the glass, which were dyed the same serpent-scale green as the shingles. Yet another thing sporting that color was the large, wooden front doors. The porch they eventually stood on seemed to be made of the same black stone as the walls, which was only decorated with a couple of white marble gargoyle statues flanking the two columns in front of the doors. The door handles were simple levers made of silver. Oddly enough, there was a second set of handles near the bottom of the doors, running parallel with the porch. They appeared to be ordinary cubboard handles, simple strips of metal bent inwards on the ends and fixed to the wood.

Before Mustang could even lay a knuckle on that wood, he heard a loud crash on the other side of it, followed by dog barking and what sounded like the screechy laughter of a toddler. That's when Roy's heart stopped.

_It's a child…_ he thought frantically, _and a dog… oh god, not again._

He looked over at Hawkeye, hoping that perhaps his mind was playing a cruel trick on him. However, a bar of lead seemed to settle in his stomach when their eyes met and he noticed she wore the same expression of mild horror.

The sounds behind the door only managed to sound more and more convincingly like a toddler and a dog rough-housing, which only worsened Roy's growing nausea.

"Sir?" Hawkeye ventured. "I would not be opposed to leaving and forgetting we ever came here… sir."

Roy was not surprised by his subordinate's suggestion. Although it wasn't for the right reason, he was relieved to hear she was at least giving him an option to opt out. Hawkeye wasn't afraid of anything, but she _was_ concerned for his mental health, which had taken a considerable blow during the Tucker incident.

Oddly enough, knowing that he _could_ chicken out if he wanted to gave him the courage to rap his knuckles against the doors and forge ahead with his self-assigned mission.

To their surprise, the dog answered the door. Mustang sprung backwards a few steps as a huge, fluffy Amestrian Sheppard trotted out to inspect them with its nose. Although he got a dirty look from Hawkeye, Mustang gave the dog a gentle push with his hands, steering it away from him. When it moved on to Hawkeye, it received a warmer greeting. It seemed to take a liking to her, as it probably smelled Black Hayate, and licked her hands.

While they were distracted with the dog, the small child had appeared in the doorway.

"Hi, new people!" he said cheerfully, his face flushed. "What do you want?"

The boy looked around four or five-ish, and he wore a simple white shirt with tan shorts and no shoes. He peered up at them expectantly, but Mustang merely stood there and blinked. Hawkeye snapped out of it first and bent down a little with a warm smile on her lips.

"Hello. We're here to see Fiona Kuhn. Is she here?"

The child gave her a toothy grin and said, "Yep! She's taking a poop. You can come in and wait for her if you want."

Hawkeye gave Mustang a look that said, _You can still back out right now if you want. But after this, I'm not letting you turn back._

Mustang was starting to get a bit irritated with being treated like a baby. While Hawkeye's concern was welcome at the front of the house, he didn't appreciate being coddled in front of a toddler. So he motioned for her to lead the way into the house.

Immediately upon entry, warm scents of cherry pie and burnt toast greeted Mustang's nostrils. Somewhere, probably coming from another room entirely, he heard what sounded like a live instrument playing. Some kind of flute, maybe? A bountiful array of fire-lit torches illuminated the foyer with a soft, natural glow. The glass globes surrounding the open flames shielded the heinously green wallpaper that occupied every square inch of drywall. The floors were made of shiny wooden panels of dark cherry, standing out like a sore thumb next to all the green.

The room itself was rectangular, running longways in the East/West directions. The East wall was decorated with paintings of what appeared to be generations of the Kuhn family. Down by the end, adjacent to the North wall, a door hung open, revealing a flight of stairs descending into what Roy figured was the basement. On the North wall, slightly hidden behind the basement door, a doorway leading to the kitchen gaped open. On the West wall was a simple series of four closed doors, divided by the wall-mounted torches. Laden with green fabric of course, two couches and a chair huddled around a shiny dark-wood coffee table. In the middle of the room, granting access to a spacious wrap-around loft, a grand green-carpeted stairway stood. On that stairway, near the ground floor, lay shattered bits of pottery, a fair amount of dirt, and an uprooted houseplant.

That was the crashing sound he heard earlier, Mustang figured.

The small child led them over to one of the couches and took off running towards the kitchen shouting, "May! George knocked over the plant again!"

Once the kid was out of sight, Hawkeye gave him a meaningful look.

"Sir," she said, "the report stated very clearly that miss Kuhn had no children. Do you think…?"

Equally unnerved by the child's presence, Mustang's eyes floated over to the East wall. Within seconds, he located the most recent painting. It depicted a middle-aged man sitting behind a grinning teenager. The teen, Mustang knew, was none other than a younger Fiona Kuhn. The painting was done too early to tell if the family included any potential children she might've had.

"He's not mine, if that's what you're wondering."

Every nerve in his body jumped. He whipped around to see the owner of the estate sitting across from them on the other couch.

Just like how he remembered from her exam, she had layered dirty-blonde hair that stopped just above her shoulders. Her eyes were an unimpressive shade of dark brown, and her tan skin was littered with little nicks and scratches, as if she had a less-than-friendly cat (for all Mustang knew, she could've). She wore a simple green shirt underneath a typical doctor's coat, a pair of almost scandalously short denim shorts, and a pair of black sandals. From afar, where Mustang stood to watch the proceedings, she looked like she was in her early twenties. But now that he was seeing her so close up, he increased that estimate to late twenties. A small smile played on her colorless lips. Then she cleared her throat and stood.

"What can I do for you, officers?" she asked politely.

They were on their feet in seconds. Mustang said, "Good afternoon, miss Kuhn. My name is Colonel Mustang, and this is First Lieutenant Hawkeye. We would like to conduct a small investigation, if you don't mind."

He cleared his mind of the usual thought-clutter and focused on reading her. Her expression in reactance to what he'd just stated would either pass or fail his first test. Mustang had done this many times before, and he knew only two answers were possible. If she passed, she would give him a look of genuine confusion. Any other response not a variant of that would immediately fail. In which case, a forced investigation would ensue, should she refuse. As with many other State Alchemist candidates, he expected her to fail his test. Every alchemist was hiding _something_.

Mustang had to hold back a cruel smirk when she gave them a deadpan look.

"I understand, sir," she stated, dropping her gaze to the floor. "I saw that man in the papers. Shou Tucker. I can imagine the military's reluctance to let another person like him in."

Mustang could feel a little bit of stiffness in his posture leave him. Hawkeye's ever-tightened jaw loosened. So she knew about Tucker… It was a relief for Mustang to hear. At least she was aware of the stigma she would be attempting to disprove by taking his title. And it helped to know that she too was uncomfortable at the idea of what he'd done. Maybe that meant, as an alchemist, she would pointedly avoid making the same mistakes.

He cleared his throat. "Do you agree to cooperate, then?"

Without moving or looking up, she said, "Yes, sir."

"Right. Then let's get started. Have a seat, please."

Five minutes flew by, and the meaningless but necessary questions had been answered. She was born right there in Casier, into a family that had always possessed good fortune and wealth. The Kuhn family inherited its good name from Dr. John L. Kuhn, an ingenious geologist credited with discovering the local gemstone deposit the original town of Casier was founded around.

Fiona was twenty-eight years old and had birthed no children, though her fiance's nephew, Victor, (the boy who answered the door) often stayed with her at the estate while his parents visited relatives in Creta. Her fiance (she seemed to like addressing him as such), Louis, ran a small import shop when he wasn't out traveling and collecting new items. She happily showed them a photograph of them all standing together behind the counter in the shop. Mustang remembered seeing the front of that shop on their way to the estate.

Until recently, she said, her father had been part of her small but loving family. Tragically, he went missing a couple of years ago during a mining expedition, and he hadn't been seen since. She told them he taught her almost everything she knew about alchemy. It was then that Mustang began to nod off. He'd heard this story so many times before he thought he might vomit at hearing it again. Luckily for him, Hawkeye elbowed him before Fiona could notice his lack of enthusiasm.

After the woman finally shut up about her father, Mustang took a moment to gather his thoughts. Taking the pause as her cue, Hawkeye gave Fiona some casual inquiries to distract her while he examined his impressions.

So far, nothing about this woman gave him red flags. Her story was consistent and it had been conveyed calmly and honestly, as far as he could detect. He'd spent years honing his ability to read people's expressions, body language, and voices. He saw no evidence of unease. Everything checked out.

Yet, he reserved his judgement. She may have passed the backstory portion of the interrogation with flying colors, but he had yet to see how she performed when asked the more pointed questions.

Mustang waited for a sufficient break in the conversation to clear his throat. Once he had Fiona's attention again, he leaned forward and laced his fingers together.

"I have a few more questions to ask you, miss Kuhn," he told her. "Then, if you don't mind, we'd like to see a small demonstration of your work."

Mustang observed no change in her demeanor as she nodded and leaned back into the couch. "Very well, sir."

"You said your father worked as a doctor in the mines, correct?"

She nodded.

"And you told us he taught you _almost_ everything you knew about alchemy," he continued. "Did your father work on chimeras, or was that something you learned on your own?"

For the first time, Fiona's smile wavered. The dog that had answered the door earlier, which had been contently snoozing on the rug at the bottom of the stairwell, whined and trotted out of the room. Mustang could feel the atmosphere of the room shift. The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, though Mustang convinced himself it was merely a figment of his imagination.

Fiona's gaze once again dropped to the floorboards. A few seconds crept by before she said, "He had no interest in chimeras. That was something I had to learn by myself… sir."

A frown pulled at his lips. "What do you mean you _had_ to? Explain."

"Well, you see," she began, "about a year ago, George got dognapped. When we found him, some sick bastard fused him with a cat and left him for dead in an alley. If I didn't find a way to separate them, both George and the cat would've died."

Hawkeye spoke up. "That must've been very difficult."

His subordinate, while trying to keep up appearances, had seemingly caught Fiona's change of tone as well. As soon as Fiona uttered the word "well" Mustang heard something different in her voice. Something wasn't quite right. If he did say so himself, it sounded rather rehearsed. For the first time since speaking with her, Mustang detected evidence of a lie.

That was the first red flag. But that didn't stop him from pressing forward. Even though she'd gotten an excellent head start at appearing honest and trustworthy, he _had_ expected her to falter at some point. However, in order to gauge her potential usefulness to him, he needed to know just how far down this rabbit hole went. And at some point, he needed to expose her for what she really was, just like he'd done to the Elric brothers.

With that in mind, he decided to "play it cool" and pretend as if he believed her lie. He knew the ugly truth would reveal itself eventually. It was inevitable. He just hoped that, whatever it was, it wasn't going to blow up in their faces like it had with Shou Tucker.

He gave Hawkeye a knowing glance. Then he cleared his throat and stood. "I believe that's all the information we need. Now we'd like you to show us a demonstration of your alchemy technique, if you please."

Still looking a bit shaken from the questioning, Fiona nodded and rose. She signaled for them to follow and headed for the basement door. As he reached the doorway, Mustang discreetly pulled his gloves out of his coat pocket and slipped them on. Hawkeye casually slipped her hand into her pocket, where she kept her trusty gun. They exchanged a meaningful look before descending the stairs after her.

o.O.0.O.o

The Kuhn estate "basement" didn't look like a basement at all.

Despite the cloudy skies, plenty of natural daylight flooded in through the generously large windows, illuminating a completely finished and livable space. The space itself, Mustang believed, was so massive it had to span the entire house. Even the steel poles and beams that held the weight of the structure were tastefully hidden beneath augmented wooden panels (cherry like the floors upstairs). The ceiling was equally well hidden with black cork panels and a network of silver strips interlocking together. Black carpet covered about two thirds of the floor, and the remaining third was done in polished cherry wood panels like the upstairs. On the West side, where there was plenty of carpet, mindfully arranged green-fabric seating gathered in groups around coffee tables and beneath windows.

In the middle, separating the East and West sides on the North wall, was a quaint wooden stairway that lead to a hatch in the ceiling: the cellar door that lead to the backyard, Mustang presumed.

On the East side, to the right of where they had entered via the stairway, was a surprisingly tidy workshop-like space. Dozens of tables of varying sizes and shapes were spread out in a thoughtful arrangement, forming a sort of crescent shape opening away from one of the windows. On those tables sat a plethora of jars, jugs, boxes, and glassware, all labeled neatly and organized by size, which was oddly appealing to look at. Along with the containers were journals, books, and loose-leaf paper that formed neat stacks organized by type. On either side of the window on the wall were cork tack-boards with random scraps of notes pinned in an orderly fashion. The only thing that looked remotely messy was the presence of stains scattered about here and there. Although they were faded, as if someone tried their outmost to clean it up before it stained. Judging by the faded stains, Mustang threw away the idea that Fiona cleaned up the lab for visitors. It seemed the woman was naturally the neat-freak type.

Mustang smirked. That was a cumbersome trait to have as an alchemist. Where there is alchemy, there is always a mess of some sort.

The state of the basement itself wasn't what caught his attention, though. While it was fine and dandy to look at, the main attraction was the animals.

They scurried about the basement freely. Some were avian and used their wings to flap to and fro. Some were reptilian or amphibian and scuttered across the floor and up the support poles. Some were mammalian and lazed about on the furniture and on the plush rugs (surprisingly white). Most of them were chimeras. All of them looked quite happy.

Mustang's eye floated over to an arrangement of cages he hadn't noticed before in the Northeast corner. They were all quite sizable and roomy, with little bits and bobs decorating the insides, like toys and ladders. Most of them were empty of their animal, and all of the doors hung wide open.

Then, another thing Mustang hadn't noticed before caught his eye: a person. She was on her knees tilting a bird cage on its side, cleaning out the bottom with a rag. Her black and white maid's uniform complimented her long midnight black hair and fair skin. When she turned to look at them, he noticed her eyes were a stunning pale blue.

"Hello, May," Fiona spoke in a cheerful tone. "This is Colonel Mustang and First Lieutenant Hawkeye. Officers, this is May, my housekeeper."

May put the rag down and stood. She donned a nervous smile as she crossed the basement to shake their hands. "Hello, officers. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

Her voice came out a lot higher and squeakier than Mustang anticipated. And her handshake was weak at best. But he didn't hold that against her. A lot of people got unreasonably nervous around military officers.

So far, Mustang's impression of the basement completely defied his expectations. He'd expected a dark, dingy dungeon-like space, with animals miserably crammed into small cages and stacked against the walls. But what he found was basically a chimera paradise. It took all the unwritten rules of chimera-alchemy lairs and chucked them off the side of a cliff. To say the least, Mustang was immensely pleased. He found himself taking his gloves back off, and he caught sight of Hawkeye retracting her hand from her pocket.

Fiona waved her arm, gesturing around the room at the animals, and said, "May, could you do me a favor and clear the basement? But don't take Daisy. These nice officers here want to see a demonstration, and now is as good a time as any to fix her up."

"Of course, Fiona."

May flashed another nervous smile, but didn't look distraught or concerned at the thought of Fiona "fixing Daisy". Not wasting another moment, the housekeeper got to work on opening the cellar doors and corralling the animals outside, where it had evidently stopped raining. Mustang had to stop himself from choking on his own spit as he watched Fiona pluck one of the birds right out of the air before it flew outside. By the time Fiona brought the animal over to her work tables, May was shutting the cellar doors behind her. Taking their cue, Mustang and Hawkeye crowded by Fiona's sides to watch.

"This little girl," Fiona explained whilst smoothing the bird's feathers, "is a cross between a chickadee and a finch. Unfortunately, the soul of the chickadee was lost, hence the one name."

The bird, or Daisy as Fiona called it, looked none too thrilled about being manhandled. Although, under Fiona's gentle caressing, the bird relaxed as much as a wild bird was expected to. Besides that, the actual appearance of the bird was pleasantly mild in comparison to some of the other chimeras Mustang had seen in Tucker's lab. It only possessed one head and one pair of wings, while the back region was doubled. Splitting apart symmetrically, its two rumps each sported a pair of perfectly normal-looking legs. Other than its doubled backside, the little yellow bird looked passable for a regular specimen.

Fiona continued, "Now, this specimen is a bit of an exception of my usual work, but only in the way that it'll take less time. Since there's only one soul, I only have to make one body." She picked up a stack of loose-leaf paper and shuffled through it until she pulled out a page with a single circle drawn on it. "Making a body is extremely difficult and even dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. You're pulling together resources from a variety of sources, and it's easy to make a mistake if you don't have everything organized."

_Did I just hear that right?_ Mustang thought. _Did she say… make a body?_

Now _that_ Mustang didn't expect. At the exam, he'd assumed Fiona had simply brought in preexisting bodies for the animals, not… synthetic ones. Yet another mind blowing piece of information was crossing his mind and, again, it was something he never considered as a possibility. He'd heard of alchemists slapping together fake corpses to cover up their murders, but he'd never heard of someone sincerely making a functional body intended for life. That was something that bordered on playing the role of God, now that he thought about it.

Before Mustang could do it himself, Hawkeye said, "Wait!"

Fiona turned around to look at her. "Yes? What is it?"

Hawkeye bit her lip and asked, "What do you mean by _making_ a body? How does that not violate the laws of alchemy? How is that not playing God?"

Fiona gave her a wicked grin. "Simple: I'm not asking for a soul. The one I need is already right here in front of me. All I want is the body, and that is perfectly acceptable under the laws."

The woman gave her explanation as if it didn't mean depreciating every alchemy textbook known to man. But, to Mustang, it was exactly the kind of under-the-table, loophole-exploiting solution he didn't know he was looking for. Despite the questionable morality, the thought was valid. And to think he would've been satisfied with sticking Alphonse's soul to someone's corpse. Next to the enlightened and thousands-of-times better alternative, the former idea sounded deeply disturbing.

If what Fiona was about to show them proved her technique to be feasible, Mustang would easily subscribe to the idea and, without a second thought, formulate the lead for the Elric brothers. Now that he considered all that he learned so far, he felt confident he could trust Fiona with the boys. After all, the way she handled her chimeras so kindly spoke volumes for her moral strength. Although he hadn't exposed her deep, dark secret just yet, he now felt like he didn't need to. Whatever it was, it couldn't be too bad.

"Is that all, officer?" Fiona asked, looking at Hawkeye with a tame smile this time.

His subordinate looked at him in askance. After he gave her a reassuring nod, she said, "Yes. Please continue."

"Right," she began, holding up the paper with the circle on it for them to see. "Since there are, of course, many more ways to screw up a body than an unorganized work station, I find it helpful to craft my own tailor-made circles to make things easier. See this box?" She pointed out a small box on the left hand side of the page. "That's for the blueprint of the animal- the DNA. And notice how I have things ordered in a special way? That's so I have no choice but to synthesize the organic material in a logical hierarchy, first making the bones, then the muscles, the different organ systems, and so on."

She put the paper down and picked up a different one off the top of another stack. "Aside from the complex biological processes I won't bore you with, there is also the process of transferring the soul from one body to another. For this I use my very own circle, a bridge circle if you will, to help guide the soul to the target body while still remaining in the physical world. Before I transfer the soul, though, I tattoo a blood-seal somewhere on the animal to keep the soul bound to the body. The only problems that come from this is that the soul will remain even if the body dies. But once the body decomposes enough and the seal is broken, they'll be released anyway. Kind of gruelling to think about, but I'm still working on a way to fix that."

Hawkeye looked incredibly lost. Her eyes were completely glazed over. Mustang had a hard time keeping up himself. So many things were being thrown at him, it was hard to keep track of it all. Yet, everything she was telling them made perfect sense to him. Although he was getting a little antsy to actually _see_ it in action, he decided to let her finish her explanation. After all, he needed to know exactly what she was doing, if he ever planned on trusting her with the Elric brothers.

"Finally," she continued, picking up yet another paper with a circle on it, "after the body is complete and the soul is sealed, I use this circle to give the heart an electric shock. This sort of activates the body and lets it come alive."

She paused for a moment, as if thinking over her next words. Then she looked at Hawkeye.

"You asked how I'm not playing God by doing this. The truth is, I can't make life happen on my own. Sure, I can make a suitable body, but I can't make it move and breathe. Only a body with a soul attached to it will come alive."

Then Fiona glanced between the two of them. "Did all that make sense?"

Hawkeye wasn't afraid to say, "Not at all…"

But Mustang gave her a reassuring smile. "Yes, I think I understand how it works. Instead of trying to transmute the two animals apart, you make them new bodies. Then you seal their souls to those bodies and give them a little jump start… like a car."

"Exactly." She gave him a relieved grin. Then she turned around and began arranging her circles on the mostly empty table. "Now I'll begin the _actual_ demonstration."

_Finally_, Mustang thought.

The woman took note of Daisy, who had made herself comfortable on one of the stacks of notebooks on a different table. She then proceeded to open up the many jars, jugs, and pots that contained the proper materials, carefully setting their corks and lids aside. She laid the first circle she'd shown them down in front of her, plucked a yellow feather from one of the jars, and placed it on the empty box drawing on the page.

Without wasting another second, she set her hands to the paper and began the transmutation. Green light (why was Mustang not surprised?) momentarily blinded him. When it was gone, he craned his neck to see the body of a little yellow bird in the middle of the circle. He blinked. Daisy jerked her head up to see what was going on, but didn't move.

"That's amazing!" Hawkeye breathed.

Fiona glanced back to give her a grin. "This is nothing. You should come by when I'm fixing a horse."

Mustang could feel a little color drain from his face at the thought.

The woman set the paper aside and took out the page with the blood-seal circle on it. Mustang wasn't surprised when he noticed that it looked a little bit different than Al's. Instead of an eight-pointed star, it was a normal five-point with the same swirl emblem in the middle. Maybe Fiona had never seen the Truth, and therefore had to improvise her own seal. At least, Mustang hoped that was the case. The last thing he needed was another horror story to keep him awake at night.

Apparently, Mustang had zoned out for a bit, because the next thing he knew, the tattoo was already applied to the bird's back and Fiona was getting ready to transfer the soul. Her left hand rested on Daisy, while the right rested on the next circle. Then, without a word of warning, or even a deep breath to calm her nerves, she began.

He supposed she had no nerves to calm. It ended as quickly as it started, and each of the precise, calculated movements were executed naturally, as if her body had memorized all the steps and it knew exactly what to do. This time, the green light wasn't so bright, and he actually caught a glimpse of what was going on. Once the transmutation started, a ball of light seemed to rip itself from the chimera and pass through Fiona's arm, where it traveled through her body until it dumped out onto the page from her other hand. The chimera's former body dropped dead instantly. Immediately after the light made its new home out of the paper, Fiona began a second transmutation, where the process started all over again, only this time her left hand rested on the bridge circle, and her right hand rested on the new body's seal. The light zipped through her body once again and planted itself in the seal, where the light momentarily brightened. After a few seconds, the light faded entirely, and Fiona took her hand off the seal.

This time, when she turned to pick up the last paper, he saw that her face was pale and beaded with sweat. Dark circles managed to form under her eyes. Mustang figured the back-to-back transmutations were taking it out of her. Indeed, her fixing a horse probably _was_ a sight to see.

Finally, she laid the last paper down on the desk. She placed the unmoving body onto the circle, and started the last transmutation. This time, very little light appeared, and a few of the body's muscles jerked. When she took her hands away, Daisy shuttered and stood. In just a few seconds, the little yellow finch was happily flapping its way around the basement.

"Oh my!" Hawkeye said with a wide smile as she watched the bird. "You actually did it! It's alive!"

"That was incredible, miss Kuhn," Mustang stated sincerely, shaking Fiona's clammy hand. "I look forward to working with you in the future."

She blinked at that last comment, but gave him a small grin nonetheless.

As Mustang and Hawkeye walked back to their car, Mustang couldn't help the devilish smirk that had taken over his face. He'd confirmed his suspicions about her being able to help the Elric brothers. Mustang was positive Al would be thrilled to get out of that armor and continue their search in a real, living body. Fiona had implied that she worked on animals as big as horses before, so why not a human? She said it herself: she wasn't asking for a soul. And she used her own circles. It couldn't be considered human transmutation if you're not trying to bring the dead back to life, right?

In any case, Mustang had made his decision. He was ready to trust Fiona with his youngest subordinate. For the first time since… ever… he actually had a guaranteed lead for him.

o.O.0.O.o

After he was sure the officers were gone and out of sight, George trotted his way down the basement stairs. Still next to all her tables, Fiona sat exhausted on the floor, looking a little more worse-for-wear than usual. George planted his rump by her side.

"I see you didn't pace yourself," he quipped.

Fiona laid her hand on his back absently and stroked his fur. "I know… I thought since it was only a small bird, things would be different. But I guess I was wrong."

George wagged his tail and gave the woman's cheek a quick lick. She turned to him and gave him a warm smile. Then he let out a nervous whine after he remembered something.

"They didn't see your seal, right?"

She furrowed her brow. "I showed them the seal, yes. I _had_ to. It's part of the process."

The dog shook his head. "That's not what I meant. Did they see _your_ seal?"

Understanding crossed her face a moment later, and her hand instinctively drifted over to her lower back. She felt the fabric of her pointedly long doctor's coat.

"No," she decided. "No, they didn't."

_At least I hope they didn't_, she added mentally.

George smiled as much as he could and gave her face another reassuring lick. "I was eavesdropping at the top of the stairs. The man said he planned on working with you in the future. What do you think that means?"

She stopped stroking his back and leaned against the leg of the nearest table, giving it some thought.

"I'm not sure," she said. "I did read up on him, though. He served as a human weapon in the Ishvalan war. And it looks like he's been flying up the ranks ever since. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's got something to do with alchemy and politics."

Then she sighed. "I just hope I didn't make a mistake by doing this- joining the military."

George tilted his head. "You wanted access to those libraries, right? You said you thought it was worth it."

"I did, but… I don't know. My father wanted me to revolutionize the way people think about bio-alchemy. He wanted me to learn all that I could, and work out every issue and inefficiency of his technique. But am I risking too much? I mean, if they find out what I really am… I don't know what would happen to me. And you. And all the chimeras…"

George sat there for a few seconds to think. Then he let out the dog version of a chuckle.

"Now that I think about it, I think we're worrying too much. What's it to them if you have an alchemy circle tattooed to your ass? A lot of people have tattoos of alchemy circles. Maybe you should get some more so it doesn't look so conspicuous."

Fiona got the feeling he was just trying to make her feel better, and that he full well knew what it would mean if someone saw her seal. She appreciated the effort, though. So she reached over and started stroking his back again.

"Yeah… Maybe you're right."


	2. Chapter 2

House of Echidna Ch. 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

Their train released a few jets of steam and began chugging forward. Out the window, Edward noticed they were quite literally riding off into the sunset. An array of clouds gathered and parted in such a way that rays of sunlight could be seen reaching for the heavens. The clouds themselves were lit up in brilliant golds, reds, and pinks, while the sky behind it all was a rainbow gradient that contained all the colors- except green of course.

Despite the picturesque display, Edward couldn't shake his solemn mood. He curled up in his train seat, wrapped his arms around his knees, and leaned his head against the glass. Ever since his anger from earlier left him, it had been replaced by mourn, anxiety, and fear. The beauty of the view outside his window could never make up for how terrified he was of their destination.

Edward took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was a less-than-effective attempt to clear his head. Winry had told him it was supposed to be physically helpful; that the act 'changed gears' in the body. Like how loosening a certain bolt on his automail made his entire arm easier to work with. She tried to explain that the lower supply of oxygen was what forced the brain to slow down, but Edward liked the automail analogy better.

While he felt physical improvement, the act did nothing to quell the presence of his thoughts. The train ride from Central to Casier took a little less than a day, but still he found himself wishing it were longer. He was definitely _not_ looking forward to arriving.

When Edward first got word that a new alchemist was rising to take Shou Tucker's place as the Sewing Life Alchemist, his blood ran cold. The news stirred up bad memories that he'd spent two weeks working hard to suppress. He wanted to march right up to the Fuhrer's office and demand they retire the title for good.

Alas, his brother Alphonse managed to talk some sense into him before he could go through with it. The armor reminded him that the military could and would do whatever they pleased, and Edward was in no position to argue with them. So Edward settled for avoiding the issue and ignoring the newspaper articles. One week later, however, he found himself deeply regretting that decision.

"_Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist, I order you to take an apprenticeship under the new Sewing Life Alchemist." _

Remembering the words made him squirm in his train seat.

Edward drew in another deep breath and let it out slowly. While his body 'changed gears' he decided to let his mind do the same. He thought back to Mustang's various (and useless) attempts at reassuring him:

"_The way I see it, it'll take you years to find what you're looking for. In the meantime, what I have in mind for you can be accomplished right now. I personally guarantee you won't be wasting your time."_

"_If I didn't think it would help, I wouldn't be doing this. I even went out of my way to investigate her myself. I trust her." _

"_Get to know this alchemist's technique, and I promise you'll find something worth your while. What this woman does borders on revolutionary, and I want you front and center for it."_

"_You may even find a temporary solution to your problem."_

That last statement rung in Edward's mind the longest. He snuck a glance at the armor sitting next to him, and surveyed the state of it. He wondered what Mustang meant by temporary. Edward had a hard time believing any answer to their problem could be temporary. The only solution he ever had in mind was to somehow get Al's body back. He'd convinced himself there was nothing else he _could_ do. Was he missing something?

"Brother?" the armor asked, cutting off his thoughts. "Are you okay? You're sighing a lot."

Edward looked up at the armor, who had lowered his book and fixated his makeshift eyes on him. A few seconds passed before Edward replied, "Yeah. I'm just… thinking."

Leaning back in his seat, Alphonse shut the book and let out a sigh of his own. "I've been thinking, too. I can't figure something out. The Colonel said we might find a _temporary_ solution. What do you think that means?"

Edward sat up. "I don't know. That's what _I_ was just wondering."

"Huh. Well, whatever it is, he seemed pretty confident about it. That's good, right?"

Edward made a _tch_ sound behind his teeth. "I don't think I'm willing to trust his confidence anymore. The last time he was confident about a lead I almost killed the psychopath it led us to. And I _don't_ kill people."

The armor shifted in his seat. "Yeah. That was a close one, Brother. I really thought you were going to do it."

"I did, too." Then the blond sighed. "I just hope that won't happen with my new _teacher_."

Alphonse tilted his helmet. "That reminds me: I've been reading that file Mustang gave us."

He reached inside a crevice below his kneecap and pulled it out of his leg.

"She sounds really nice," Alphonse continued, leafing through the papers. "It says here she doesn't have any kids. And look at her profile photo. She sure doesn't _look_ like a psycho. Isn't that great?"

Edward closed his eyes. "That file isn't going to tell us anything, Al. And neither are the rumors and newspaper articles. I'm not going to trust her good publicity. Heck, people shouldn't trust _my_ good publicity."

Alphonse paused for a moment. Then he snapped the file shut in a rather passive-aggressive manner and turned to him.

"I think you're wrong, Brother," he said, his voice firm and clear. "You have good publicity because you're a good person. So what if you made a few mistakes in the past? Everyone does that. You learn from them and moved on, and that's the only thing that should matter. Whatever it is she might be hiding, I'm sure it's not any worse than _our_ mistake, and I'm sure she feels just as guilty about it."

Edward blinked, not expecting all that from his baby brother. But before he could get a word in edgewise, Alphonse continued.

"I know you don't want to do this," the armor told him, a gentler tone entering his voice. "Believe me, I'm scared too. But I think we should at least give her chance. Not every alchemist we run into is going to turn into a psycho, you know."

"That remains to be seen," Edward said. Then he sighed. "But I guess you're right."

At the time, Edward had at least twenty different counterpoints lined up in his head, but he chose not to argue. It would've been a useless effort anyhow, because his little brother almost always won their arguments in some shape or form. He was just too optimistic about things. A fact that Edward was actually glad for most of the time. It kept his perspective in check, and prevented him from sinking into complete despair from time to time. It was one of the many things he loved about his brother. And one of the many reasons he wanted him back in his real body. Such a sweet, semi-innocent person didn't deserve to be trapped in that metal, unfeeling prison.

_You may even find a temporary solution to your problem._

A metaphorical puzzle piece clicked into place, and Edward made up his mind. Even a temporary solution sounded better than no solution at all. If it got Al out of that armor, even for a little while, then that was good enough for him. His fear be damned.

o.O.0.O.o

"Face it, Brother. We're lost."

They were in the heart of Casier, walking down what they assumed was an off-shoot of the main road. Although it looked more like a really long alley than its own street. The buildings towered above them, often three or four stories high and made of grimy brick, blocking out what little sunlight they might've gotten from the dreary grey sky. The thin cobblestone street was anything but level as it rose, fell, cracked, and pooled with stagnant rainwater. Up ahead of them was the main road, assumedly, and behind them the cobblestone path bled into the mouth of a forested trail.

Despite the sketchy vibe Edward got from the place, the inhabitants skipped around as if they were navigating a posh up-scale suburban neighborhood. Domestic animals like cats and dogs sunned themselves on stray shipping crates and barrels. Children of varying ages laughed and chased each other through the winding alleys. The windows of the buildings, which he could now see were residential apartment buildings, were all wide open and unbroken. Housewives carelessly dangled their upper halves out those windows to hang drying clothes on the various lines webbing between the flagpoles and gargoyles. Everyone that he could see looked happy enough to be outside in the semi-damp air of the day.

Edward looked down at his map. He let out a low growl as, for the fifth time, he had no luck locating their position. Even though each street on the aerial view portion was perfectly labeled, those labels were far from comprehensive.

He passive-aggressively crumpled the useless parchment. "Did you happen to see a street sign that said A9?"

The armor glanced around. "No. But that sign over there says H13."

Forcing himself to hold back a screech of anguish, he wracked his brain, trying to remember where they'd been since leaving the train station. The guy at the post office where they'd gotten the map only gave them a half-assed explanation of the city's layout before taking his lunch break. So far, the only consistent thing Edward observed was that as soon as they entered a different lettered district the street names changed. So someone could literally walk on the same street through three districts and the street's name would've changed three times. Not to mention the whole grid system had no rhyme or reason half the time. Edward was pretty sure they'd followed a road that split off the main road, only to loop itself right back into it one U-turn later.

It was frustrating, to say the least.

Besides all that, though, there was the issue of determining the address of their destination. The Colonel had hastily scribbled it on a piece of scrap paper before sending them on their way. After the paper made the journey with them in Edward's coat pocket, which had been soaked in the rain earlier that day, he couldn't tell if it said C3 or G3 for the street letter.

The blond teen groaned. "I hate to say it, but… I think we need to ask someone for directions."

The words tasted sour. But Edward wasn't about to spend half the day just _looking_ for the place. As much as he hated admitting it (even silently to himself), this time his superior navigational skills had failed him.

"Took you long enough," the armor mumbled under his breath, earning a glare from his older brother.

Then the armor looked up to find one of the housewives in a second story window hanging a jacket. "Excuse me, ma'am?"

The brunette froze and flicked her startlingly grey eyes towards him. When she spoke, her voice was courser than her petite appearance let on. "Yes?"

"Can you tell us where we can find the Kuhn estate?"

Her shoulders dropped as she gave it some thought. "Not really, no. But Louis can. He runs an import shop down on the main road." She pointed towards the busy street in the distance up ahead. "Just turn left and keep going about a quarter mile and you should see a green awning with a snake insignia."

The armor nodded. "Okay, thank you!"

The woman smiled and continued hanging her laundry. Alphonse turned to his brother.

"See?" he said, a grin somehow evident in his voice. "That wasn't so hard."

After shooting him another glare, the elder Elric stood and dusted off his pants, which were clinging a bit too tightly to his legs. For once, he actually considered swallowing his pride and trading his usual outfit for a pair of shorts and a shirt, his automail be damned. He could handle heat, but this humidity would be the death of him.

Choosing to ignore his discomfort for the time being, he picked up his suitcase and motioned for his brother to follow.

"Whatever. Let's go already."

Five minutes later brought them to the import shop, which they found easily. From the outside, it didn't look too shabby. The black bricks appeared recently scrubbed and the silver trim on the door shone like new. On the inside of the front windows, "Casier Emporium" was hand-painted in snake-scale green lettering. The display tables featured the usual odds and ends one would expect from such a shop: dark clay statues with jewels embedded into them, objects made of wood, clay, and bone that he could barely recognize as wind instruments, bins of shiny rocks and minerals, and of course the standard selection of cursed jewelry. But it wasn't until they got inside that things got more interesting.

Almost immediately upon entry, a headache assaulted Edward as at least three different scents hit him like a pile of bricks. The powerful, nearly _unbearable_ mix of aromas brought involuntary tears to his eyes. A round of coughing took him over before he finally retched into the conveniently-placed trash bin next to the door.

"Brother!" Alphonse cried. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

After a few more moments of hovering over the trash bin, Edward decided the sudden onslaught of symptoms had ebbed. His arms were still wrapped around his stomach when he straightened and looked around.

"Ack!" he finally managed to croak. "W-What the hell _is _that?!"

Laughing could be heard from behind the counter. The two turned to see a man they hadn't noticed before. He appeared to be in his late twenties, and he wore a simple white shirt with a brown apron over it. He had shaggy blond hair and wore a pair of antique mining goggles high up on his head. He clutched his stomach, his shoulders shaking.

"Oh, that never gets old!" he said, wiping his eye. Then he burst out laughing again.

Due to Edward's fading condition, he couldn't do much besides stand there and take it. As much as he hated being laughed at, his stomach still churned. Preventing himself from throwing up again took priority over defending his pride at the moment.

Once the guy was finished mocking him, he stepped out from behind the counter. When Edward finally got a good look at all of him, he had to make an effort not to stare. The guy wore a pair of normal tan shorts, but beneath those shorts and gleaming for all to see was an automail leg. Everything below his knee shone with metal. It looked a little outdated in design, but the guy didn't seem to have any issues walking around. He slipped on an easy grin and leaned against a dresser with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You two must be from out of town. That's Xingese incense you're smelling. Don't worry about it, kid. I threw up my first time, too."

All Edward could do was stand there and blink. But for the first time, Alphonse spoke up, tamed excitement ringing in his voice.

"They came all the way from Xing? Did you go there yourself?"

His blue eyes fixated on a random spot on the ceiling. "Oh, absolutely. When was it? It was years ago, but I ended up hauling home a whole crate of these incense supplies."

"Wow! What was it like?"

"Well, the trek through the desert was no fun. Kinda hot and dry, and it took forever. But when I finally got there, it was wet and cold. It rained the whole two weeks I was there. But the food was _incredible_. Totally worth the trip if you ask me."

Before they could get too deep in conversation, Edward coughed into his fist. When Alphonse wasn't getting the message, he cleared his throat loudly.

The armor straightened. "Oh! Right. Um, we're looking for Louis, the shop owner? Is he here?"

Another easy grin slid onto his face. "You're talking to him. Whatchya need?"

"We were hoping you could tell us where Fiona Kuhn lives," Edward said.

His grin from before disappeared. "Why do you need to know?"

"Because," Edward began, a little irritation creeping into his voice, "I have an apprenticeship with her, and I kind of need to know where I'll be living for the next few months."

A second or two ticked by as complete confusion ruled Louis's face. Then his eyes brightened and he said, "Oh! That! So you're Fiona's new student, huh?"

The grin from before returned, and he wrapped an arm around Edward's shoulders. "Welcome to the family, man! Who's this guy, then?"

"That's my brother." The teen shuffled out from under the guy's arm. "He's staying with me."

"Right, right. Excellent. Well, I'm stuck here until closing time, but I can meet you back at the house. I'm making chili tonight, so no heavy snacking until I get there. Here, I'll write the address for ya…"

Alphonse tilted his helmet. "Do you live with Fiona?"

He quickly scribbled down the address before answering with an even wider grin. "Of course! I'm her fiancé. That and her maid is a horrible cook. But don't tell her I said that!"

Louis handed Edward the piece of paper. "Here you are. I've written some directions on there, too. I know the city's layout is a bit confusing for first time visitors."

_That's an understatement_, Edward thought bitterly.

"Thanks, sir!" Alphonse said. "We'll be on our way now."

Louis waved them off. "Please, call me Louis. And avoid C5 street if you can help it, eh? I think I wrote that in there."

Before his armored brother could ask why, Edward grabbed the wrist of his gauntlet and led him out the door. "Will do!"


	3. Chapter 3

House of Echidna Ch. 3

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

When the Colonel said "estate" Edward assumed he'd be staying in another small mansion, like the Tucker residence. But as he stood in front of the black iron gates, he couldn't help but wonder what separated an estate from a downright palace.

It was huge. Like, almost spanning a city block huge. The Colonel had failed to mention any details regarding the appearance of the house. And now Edward could see why. There weren't many words that could fully do it justice. Again, the word "palace" echoed on his mind.

The siding was done in onyx black stone, while the trim and front pillars shone with sparkling white marble. The roof was shingled in what resembled green snake scales. The front double doors and the silky curtains in the windows were the same shade of green. The structure had a central atrium, with two wings jutting from the East and West sides. The whole thing had to be at least two stories tall, save for a couple of rounded towers with third stories towards the back.

The lawn and landscaping were well kept. Clumps of purple blooms hugged the bases of some scraggly-looking apple trees. Most of the iron fencing that surrounded the perimeter was choked in flowering vines, giving the impression of hedges. Bushes and spruces sprung up around the wraparound porch. The lawn itself was not clipped to perfection, but no weeds were visible. Towards the West side, Edward spotted a decent sized pond, ringed with cattails and croaking with frogs. Strangely, the backyard was sectioned off with tall, white privacy fencing, so no one standing in the front could see what was back there.

A very impressive display of wealth, but it meant nothing for Fiona's character, as far as Edward was concerned. He'd seen too many extremes in both directions to link wealth to personality.

Once they stood on the porch, Edward stopped in front of the door. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, dropping the tension in his shoulders as he did so. He slipped into a neutral expression and did the best he could to relax. After a shared glance with his armored brother, he laid three strong knocks on the door with his metal hand.

Moments flew by before one of the doors opened, revealing a black-haired girl in a maid's uniform. Edward assumed it was the maid with the horrible cooking.

"Hello," she chirped with a smile. Then she glanced down and caught sight of Edward's suitcase. "Oh, are you Fiona's new student?"

"That's right."

A genuinely warm smile spread across the maid's lips. "Excellent. Come on in."

She opened the door all the way and stepped aside to let them through. Edward couldn't help but suck in a breath as he took in the interior. He heard a twin gasping sound from his armored brother.

The inside was enormous, just like the outside. The color palette was the same: greens, blacks, and silvers. The only rebelling colors were cherry reds of the wooden floors and the soft oranges from the torches that lit up the space. There was a grand stairway in the center of it all, leading to a loft-like upstairs, and two relatively open areas on either side on the ground floor. The West side had green furniture and four closed doors. The East side had two open doors, no furniture, and a wall filled with paintings. Oddly enough, it felt both cozy and airy at the same time.

The maid closed the door once they were inside.

"Will this fellow be staying here with you?" she asked, gesturing towards the armor.

Edward nodded. "He's my little brother. He goes everywhere with me."

The maid let out a nervous laugh. "Little? But-"

Before Edward could burst out into a rant, Alphonse quickly said, "He's right, miss! I'm his younger brother. My name is Alphonse."

The armor extended his gauntlet for a shake. The maid took it with a smile. "My name is May O'Connor." Then she looked over at the elder sibling. "I think Fiona said your name was Edward?"

He crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to let her almost-slip-up slide. "Edward Elric."

She let out another nervous laugh before clearing her throat. "Right. Well, this is where you'll be staying for the term of your apprenticeship. You can go anywhere in the house; nothing is off limits. Would you two like to do your own exploring, or would you like a short tour?"

Instinctively, Edward almost told her they'd rather explore on their own. But then a little lightbulb went off somewhere at the back of his mind. It was like that idea right at the tip of one's tongue. He knew it was there but he couldn't quite reach it. So, not knowing exactly why, he said,

"Actually, a tour would be nice."

The maid must've been reluctant to get back to her chores, because he could see a glimmer of relief in her expression. "Of course. Follow me then. We can start with Fiona's lab."

As soon as those last words left her mouth, Edward's entire train of thought de-railed and shuttered to a violent stop.

"Um, shouldn't we wait for miss Kuhn first?" Alphonse asked, catching Edward's semi-horrified expression.

May waved the question off. "Nonsense. She isn't a very private person. She won't mind one bit."

This caught him off guard. He shared a look with Alphonse and watched as, sure enough, the maid headed right for the open door on the East wall and began descending the stairs.

Edward couldn't help but stand there looking gobsmacked for a few moments. This went against every stigma and stereotype of alchemists. Why would Fiona let total strangers peruse around her lab like that? Didn't she care about keeping her techniques and secrets… well… secret?

That and Edward had been hoping his introduction to Fiona's alchemy would be a bit more… climatic? Dramatic? Or at least not this completely and utterly casual. In this respect, the blond was a bit disappointed. He expected to have to jump through some hoops to gain Fiona's trust. He also expected to be given time to steel himself before meeting her… specimens. He would never _ever_ admit it out loud, but he wasn't exactly ready for that just yet. He knew Fiona was supposedly a "good" chimera alchemist, but that didn't mean her specimens would look any less gruesome and unnatural before she "fixed" them.

Once the maid realized she wasn't being followed, she came back up the steps and peered around the door-frame. "You two coming?"

Edward's feet made the decision for him as they brought him forward against his will. His mind may not have been ready, but he _was_ curious. If Fiona was trusting enough to let people into her alchemy lab, then maybe there wasn't anything significant to hide. May flashed them a quick smile before leading them both down the steps.

o.O.0.O.o

"Lab" wasn't the right word. _Tablespace_ was the right word. Everything else was simply the rest of the basement. And apparently a chimera lounge.

While the tablespace that made up Fiona's work area was crammed up against the East wall in a compact crescent shape, the rest of the space was ridiculously large and open. Black carpet (Edward had no clue how they managed to keep it clean) spanned most of the basement, save for beneath the lab tables where the floor was wooded with cherry like the upstairs. Green-fabric furniture (what was with all the green?) gathered in cozy clumps around coffee tables and underneath the surprisingly large windows. Of course, poles hidden by wooden panels held up the ceiling.

It looked very livable. Especially for the chimeras, which were all loose and lazing about the space. Besides an occasional spat between a couple of specimens, the overall atmosphere of the place was sleepy and peaceful. The mammalian and reptilian chimeras sunned themselves in the light squares beneath the windows. The avian chimeras roosted on the edges of things, like the backs of the furniture, the window sills, and the tables, occasionally flitting between roosting spaces. When Edward turned around to look at the South wall, he saw a couple of large fish tanks containing a few aquatic chimeras as well.

Edward stood there and blinked. All he could think to say was, "They're not in their cages."

The maid, who had been inspecting said empty cages, turned around and smiled. "Of course. Why would we keep them cooped up in the cages when they have all this room to roam? When it's nice out, we let them into the backyard, too."

_That explains the privacy fence_, Edward mused.

Alphonse took a few steps forward and said, "Wow! This is amazing! They all look so happy!"

Upon further inspection, Edward noticed there were a couple specimens that looked completely normal: a dog and a little yellow bird.

"Are they all chimeras, or are some of them… fixed?" Edward asked. He looked down at the dog that was now trotting his way over to him, his tail wagging and ears perked.

"Two of them are fixed," May said, gesturing towards the dog. "That one's George. The yellow bird is Daisy."

Alphonse clanked over to pet the dog, who was now nussling Edward's hand and looking up at him expectantly. Edward took the glove off his flesh hand and gave the animal an inspection. He stared in wonder as he felt his heartbeat and breathing. The dog looked happy as a clam as finally the teen ran his hand through the animals fur, which felt as soft and silky as any other Amestrian Sheppard's coat. Edward generally wasn't too thrilled about dogs. But he liked this one. It was proof that even one of the more horrible sins of alchemy could be undone.

When Edward heard the rumors about the new Sewing Life Alchemist separating chimeras, he'd brushed it off. He reserved his judgement, because every "miracle case" they'd inspected turned out to be a disappointing facade of lies. It was almost always somebody pulling the wool over people's eyes by using alchemical catalysts. In this case, Edward still decidedly reserved his judgement. However, this time he was willing to let himself relax a little. He had no clue how his new teacher had managed to do it, but for once he was looking at hard evidence. Evidence that was now licking his face.

The maid briskly walked over the crescent-shaped tablespace. "This is what Fiona calls her lab." The girl picked up a random bottle and shook it gently, as if testing it to see if it needed a re-fill. "This is where she does all her actual alchemy work. It's probably where you'll be spending most of your time, Edward."

Then she paused.

"Edward Elric…" she repeated, to herself it seemed. Then her bright blue eyes lit up.

"Oh! You're the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Edward couldn't help it. A smirky grin slithered across his face. "That's right."

"You falsified that religion in Lior, right?"

"Uh-huh."

She let out a nervous laugh. "I'd stay away from the C5 street church if I were you, then."

o.O.0.O.o

The rest of the tour went well. May showed them nearly every room in the house. They saw everything from the lowliest laundry room to the towers that overlooked the backyard and the Northern end of the city.

The West tower looked like mother nature was slowly but surely claiming it as her own. Plants and flowers completely choked the space. The only human artifacts in the room was a round table next to the door that held neat stacks of books and loose-leaf paper. All of the plants were growing in the directions of the windows: the source of sunlight.

The East tower served as an all-purpose library. It was well furnished with comfortable seating and teeming with overflowing bookshelves. Plush white rugs and pillows were strewn across the wooden floor, accompanying stacks of books and random loose-leaf pages. It was even equipped with its own working fireplace, complete with fire pokers and a stack of dry logs ready to be burned. Like in the other tower, three angled windows bulged out the side of the tower to make room for the equally angled storage bench below, only here that bench was outfitted with cushions, pillows and fuzzy throw blankets. The whole tower, it seemed, was designed specifically for reading. Edward got the feeling both him and Alphonse would be spending a lot of their free time there.

After the towers, Edward couldn't help but feel a little unimpressed with the rest of the house. The various multi-purpose rooms May showed them were square and dull in comparison. The only thing that piqued his curiosity again was when May blatantly showed them around everyone's personal bedrooms: May's, Fiona's, Louis's, and finally the bedroom of the other resident they hadn't met yet. Supposedly it belonged to a small child named Victor. The toys and figurines strewn across the floor rang bells of alarm for him.

"Um… I thought Fiona didn't have any kids," Alphonse said tentatively.

May waved the question off. "Victor is Louis's nephew. He stays here at the estate most of the time while his parents travel."

Then she paused. She turned around to look at Edward in the eyes. "You're worried about Fiona repeating what that… man did, aren't you? The first Sewing Life Alchemist?"

Edward opened his mouth, but she continued,

"I know everyone is worried about that. But believe me: I've been Fiona's housekeeper since I was twelve. I _know_ her. She can barely stomach what she does now. She's not capable of… that."

The bells of alarm did not go away at May's reassurance. Whether Victor was hers or not, Fiona still had the means to go insane and repeat the Tucker incident. All it would take was Victor and George, and they'd be living in another nightmare again. Edward forced himself to calm down, though. He'd would just have to keep a closer eye on things.

"We believe you, May," Alphonse stated, laying his gauntlet on his brother's shoulder.

She gave him a grateful look. Then she nearly jumped out of her skin as a door could be heard slamming shut downstairs.

"MAAAY! I'M BACK!" a piercing voice echoed, cutting through the tension in the room.

May's shoulders dropped in what looked like relief. "That's Fiona. I'm afraid we need to cut this tour short. The bathroom on this floor of this wing is just down the hall."

She scurried over to exit the room, but then stopped at the doorframe. She turned around and looked at Edward again with a small smile. "Fiona will probably want to start your lessons later today. Come down and meet her when you're ready."

With that she flitted out of the room and flew around the corner of the stairwell out of sight, leaving the brothers alone in Victor's bedroom.

It was only then that something made its presence known. Edward felt a light tug on the bottom of his travel coat. He looked down to find a bird-cat chimera chewing on his coat.

Edward nearly leaped out of his skin in fright. But Alphonse giggled and said, "Look, Brother, you made a little friend."

Edward scoffed in exasperation. What was it about him that animals liked so much? Dogs pounced on him. Cats followed him. And now chimeras were munching on his clothing? Everywhere he went he garnered attention of all kinds, he knew. But this was ridiculous.

It had beautiful crimson feathers, like a tropical parrot, and a feline quadruped build. Instead of a cat's tail, it had a long trailing train of red bird feathers. It had no visible ears, a mane of feathers decorating the head, which traced all the way down its back to the tail feathers. It had a pair of uselessly small wings, but they were still quite ornamental. Its back feet had gnarly talons, and its face was mostly feline, with big, green reflective eyes that contrasted strongly against the red. The rest of the neck, legs, and underbelly were covered in dark brown fur.

Carefully, as to not upset the animal, he lifted it by its sides and pressed it against his ribs, as if he were picking up a chicken (which he'd done a lot of back home in Resembool). Its chest thrummed with a cat-like purr under Edward's loose-ish grip. He rolled his eyes.

"Let's bring it back to the basement. I don't think Fiona would appreciate it being up here in the bedrooms."

Alphonse put his hand on his hip and stayed put.

Edward scowled at him. "What?"

A grin was audible when the armor said, "Aww. You like it back…"

Edward choked. "I- I do not! I just-"

"You think it's cute!" he continued. "You like it, and it likes you! Aww, you're bonding!"

Edward could feel the blood rushing to his face. "Ack! We aren't- Ugh. Whatever. Believe whatever you like. I'm taking it to the basement and _leaving_ it there."

The armor merely laughed as his brother disappeared from the room, much the same way May had.


	4. Chapter 4

House of Echidna Ch. 4

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

After she set the heavy grocery bags on the kitchen counter, Fiona threw her shoes in the corner and leafed through the drawer next to the sink until she fished out Louis's chili recipe. For once, she was looking forward to dinner, and she took it upon herself to get the right kind of beans this time. She was reading the can's label when she spotted George trotting into the kitchen out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey, do you remember that roast May tried to make last week?" she inquired casually, not looking up from the can label. "What did she put in the glaze? Brown sugar?"

Silence.

"George?"

More silence. Fiona looked down to see the dog sitting about three feet away from her, looking up at her with the dog version of a sour expression. Fiona did her best to return the expression.

"What, are you ignoring me now?"

A fully dog-modulated whine was all she got in response.

Then suddenly an out-of-breath May appeared in the doorway, and when she caught sight of Fiona attempting to communicate with George she shook her head vigorously.

Understanding found her, and Fiona nodded in recognition.

"Who's here?" she asked.

Her face a little flushed, May straightened. "Your new student and his brother. I think they're still upstairs."

Fiona quirked her lip up in slight distaste. She'd been less than thrilled when she received the phone call notifying her of the situation a mere week beforehand. Without her consent, or even fore-knowledge, the military officer who had inspected her assigned one of his subordinates to her as a bio-alchemy student. She really had no clue why. Fiona didn't see herself as qualified to teach. She'd only received her rank a mere three days after the inspection.

That and she was reluctant to have a couple of strangers come stay with her for upwards of a year. George got cranky when he wasn't able to talk for a long period of time, seeing as how he simply _loved_ talking. And singing. And just generally vocalizing.

A sigh escaped her before she decidedly brushed it off.

"Did you clip the birds' wings yet?" Fiona asked, picking up the can of beans again.

"Not yet. I can do it right now, though."

Fiona barely noticed when George trotted out of the room.

Fiona frowned. "Why don't you take a break first. You sound exhausted."

May gave her small grin. "Who? Me? Nah. We O'Connors don't get tired."

Fiona snorted. "Oh, I'm sure. Seriously, though. Put on some normal clothes and do something fun. Maybe go tease that cute waiter at the pub. He likes you back, you know."

A blush crept across her porcelain cheeks. "H-He does?"

Fiona rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? The poor guy can't get out two words when you're around. He's the nervous type, just like you. Eventually, one of you is going to have to step up and fess up."

May blinked. Then she shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea right now. I have so many other things to worry about-"

"No you don't. I can take care of things here for a while. Don't sacrifice your love life for your job."

"But-"

Fiona held her hand up. "No buts! I insist. Now go get that fine piece of ass."

May gave her a look. Then she closed her eyes a chuckled. "I don't think I'll ever understand you, Fiona. You're too kind to be as rich as you are."

The brass-blonde crossed her arms over her chest and grinned. "I get that a lot. Now shoo! I don't want to see you back here until tomorrow, got it?"

This time May outright laughed. "Alright. You got it."

Five minutes later, when the doors clicked shut behind the sharply-dressed maid, Fiona's shoulders dropped.

_Finally._

Her feet flew as she made a hairpin turn and glided down the basement steps. They took her straight to a little silver box wedged between the back of the fish tanks and the wall. She'd seen and handled the box many times before. She found its newest hiding place only yesterday, and she'd been plotting May's brief absence ever since. Fiona shamelessly opened her maid's candy stash and took a generous handful.

With the box returned to its hiding place and a fistful of sweets in hand, Fiona smirked victoriously and paced over to her alchemy work space. She dropped the candy into the jug that contained the quartz sand Louis brought back from Aerugo. She only used it when she worked on crustaceans and mollusks, and she knew May never bothered to touch it. The candy would make for an excellent mid-alchemy glucose boost, as well as bribing material for Victor.

On a more serious note, Fiona glanced over towards the East-facing wall next to the chimera cages. She walked up to it and slid her hand over the wallpaper, eventually feeling the depression that once held the handle of a door. Every now and again she felt the need to come down here and check up on it. To make sure the wallpaper wasn't peeling, or the outline of the door wasn't becoming too obvious. And since she would be hosting two new strangers in the house she felt the need to do this with even more care and frequency. If her new student really was the famous Fullmetal Alchemist, she doubted he would take kindly to what had obviously happened behind the door.

No alchemist would.

o.O.0.O.o

Edward's nose was effectively buried in one of his research journals when he heard hasty footsteps fly down the stairs.

The blond had made good on his promise and brought the red bird-cat back to the spacious and surprisingly inviting basement. After surveying the place with a more critical eye and deciding he was satisfied with how the alchemist kept her specimens, he plopped onto one of the couches. It simply amazed him how all these different types of animals could coexist so smoothly. He sat there for a good minute or so just watching it all happen. Eventually, when he saw a particularly interesting specimen settle itself on the coffee table in front of him, he decided to take notes. He pulled out the handy-dandy little journal he always kept in one of the inside pockets of his coat and began sketching.

Minutes passed and Edward became absorbed in his task. He barely even noticed when the red bird-cat curled up on his lap. He was making notes in the small margins when he heard the steps creak under someone's weight.

His eyes flicked up from his journal to see a woman in a white doctor's coat. She headed straight for the fish-tanks, not even bothering to do an absent once-over of the room. He noted her short brassy-blonde hair, cut just about shoulder length, as she pulled a little silver box from behind the tanks. Edward decidedly kept quiet as he watched her pull out a handful of something from the box. She still didn't bother looking up when she returned the box. She merely padded over to the crescent-shaped gathering of tables and dropped the objects into one of the large-mouthed jugs.

At this point, Edward still hadn't gotten a good look at her front. But judging from the hair color he recognized from her profile photo, he figured he was looking at the new Sewing Life Alchemist.

Again, he decided to lay low and observe her while she still thought she was alone.

The woman placed her hands on her hips proudly after closing the jug. Then, for whatever reason, she turned her attention to a vacant space on the East wall. Oddly enough, she even paced over to it a moment later, laying her hand on the wallpaper, as if feeling for something behind it. She seemed to stay like that, lost in thought, until a particularly alarming screech from one of the avian chimeras made her jump. She spun around and gasped when her dark eyes met Edward's.

She froze for a moment, with a wide-eyed look resembling a deer caught in the headlights. She snapped out of it soon enough, though, hot embarrassment plastering her cheeks as she straightened. She let out a nervous laugh and said,

"Oh, uh, hello! I didn't see you there."

Edward smirked and shut his journal, but didn't reply.

Another nervous laugh escaped her. Then she paced her way across the basement with her hand outstretched for a shake. "I'm Fiona Kuhn. And you are…?"

He shook her hand. "Edward Elric. You have a great thing going on down here. I was surprised to see all the specimens out of their cages like this."

The cat-bird on his lap seemed to purr in agreement. Fiona's shoulders relaxed a little and a genuine smile spread across her lips. "So I've been told."

Then she glanced down at the chimera on his lap. A grin took over her face. "I see you've met Buggie."

Edward blinked and looked at the animal. "Buggie?"

A giggle escaped her before she explained, "Yes. She's such a little love-bug, so we just call her Buggie. You might want to wash up, though. She carries diseases just like any other bird."

The animal looked up at Edward with her big green eyes and shook her tail-feathers all innocent-like. The blond quirked his lip up, acknowledging the threat to his manliness, and quickly plopped her a good two cushions away from himself on the couch.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said.

Fiona smiled and placed her hand on her hip. "Well, since your name is Edward I'm assuming you're my new student?"

He nodded.

She nodded back, mostly to herself it seemed. "Alright. Well, we should probably wait until after dinner to start the lessons. Louis is making his famous cheese chili tonight and I am _not_ missing out on that."

Edward stifled a laugh. "Fair enough."

They were both silent for a few moments, until finally Fiona let out a sigh through her nose. She rubbed her hands together absently and glanced over by the staircase. "Well, in the meantime I guess I should prepare the lab…"

Catching her drift, Edward collected his notebook and stood. "I'll go see what Al's up to. He's probably found his way back to the library again."

She snorted. Then her eyes brightened as she seemed to remember something.

"Oh, hey. If you go up there can you bring down these volumes?" She plucked a piece of random scrap paper off her tables and scribbled down a few titles.

"Sure thing," he said. He stuck the folded piece of paper inside his notebook, and then shoved that in its usual pocket of his coat. Without glancing back again, Edward ascended the stairs.

o.O.0.O.o

When dinner time rolled around, Edward could see why Fiona didn't want to miss it. Louis was an _amazing_ cook. Edward didn't even _like_ chili, but he loved the concoction that he'd plowed through two bowls of already. He was at the halfway point of inhaling his third bowl when _the question_ finally came up.

"So, Alphonse is it?" Louis began casually around a mouthful of food.

The armor stiffened. "Yes."

The blond man gestured to the untouched bowl in front of him with his fork. "Is there something wrong with the chili? Are you allergic? Did I put too much salt in it?"

Edward fork paused halfway to his mouth. He debated on whether he should come up with the excuse this time, but none of them got the chance.

"Well, you are a little heavy-handed with the salt, dear," Fiona said with a slight giggle.

Louis grabbed his chest and made an expression of mock hurt. Then his eyes brightened. "Oh, that reminds me! I got another one!"

"Oh no, not another one…" Victor said, grinning.

Fiona merely quirked her lip up a mild distaste. Edward blinked, confused. Alphonse decidedly kept silent.

Louis smirked and swallowed the food in his mouth. "Do you think the ocean is salty because the land never waves back?"

Fiona made a sour face. Victor burst out into a fit of giggles.

_Oh, god…. Really?_ Edward thought.

A few more seconds flew by before the armor straightened. "Oh! I get it now! That's clever!"

Louis smiled, rubbing the rim of his glass. "Ah, yes. Nothing like a horrible pun to break the ice. But seriously, are you going to eat that?"

Alphonse looked down at his untouched bowl of chili. "Uh… no. I'm sorry. I just-"

"He's just got to finish his alchemy training!" Edward blurted. "It's discipline! That's also why he needs to wear that armor all the time, right Al?"

"Right!"

The two brothers' gazes met, and the armor's red eyes seemed to say, _Same excuse as last time? _

Edward's gaze returned with, _I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!_

Their conversation was halted when Fiona cleared her throat. "So Victor, how was the Scouts today? Did you find anything interesting in the woods?"

Victor's bright blue eyes lit up. "Oh yeah! I found a double acorn!"

After fishing it out of his pocket he presented it to the table. Sure enough, the kid held up what could only be described as a double acorn in his palm.

Edward almost didn't see it. Right before Fiona changed the subject a little too quickly, she gave his armored brother a very familiar kind of glance. The expression looked foreign on her soft features. But it was there, nonetheless, and clear as day for the half a second it was.

It was a horrible mix of pity and sympathy. As if she somehow _knew_.

Edward looked at Al, trying to determine if he'd seen it too, but the armor was absorbed in the new conversation it seemed. Edward watched his teacher's face a little longer after that, but the expression didn't return. Edward leaned back into his seat and began eating again, decidedly storing the information away for later reference. He'd been making little entries to the "odd" file every since they arrived at the estate. He'd have a lot to mull over that night, that was for sure.

o.O.0.O.o

After dinner, Fiona brought Edward downstairs again for his first lesson in bio-alchemy. Even Edward had to admit, he was a little apprehensive.

Okay, he was _very_ apprehensive.

But what could you expect from a kid who's only venture into the bio-alchemy field had resulted in a complete and utter failure that consequently ruined his life? That aside, his mere _interest_ in the field had last landed him in the clutches of a total psycho. One couldn't blame him for being a wee bit _absolutely terrified_. Right?

"Ed, are you coming?" Fiona asked, pausing halfway down the stairs to look up at him.

He hadn't moved an inch since reaching the top of the stairs. Images from his previous experiences flooded his mind, turning his feet to stone. Shou Tucker's lab of miserable animals, Nina and Alexander, that horrible _thing_ he and Al made, it all came flashing back to him, causing a wave of nearly unbearable nausea to overwhelm him. He had to lean against the doorframe just to stay standing upright as his head swam and his vision dimmed.

"Ed?" Fiona asked, concern laced into her voice. To Edward, it sounded miles away.

A moment passed before Edward realized what was happening. Quickly, he took the well-rehearsed steps to stop it all. He took a long and slow deep breath before making an effort to dispel the images. He reminded himself that thoughts had no business affecting the body.

He really wished Al could do this with him. At least then he'd have the comforting presence of his brother there to reassure him. Alas, the armor was out on an evening stroll with George and Victor. Besides, Alphonse had told him, this was supposed to be Edward's apprenticeship, and Edward's alone. That didn't mean Edward had to like it, though.

When Edward opened his eyes again, Fiona was standing right there next to him, holding onto his flesh arm to keep him from falling down the stairs. Motherly concern had wormed its way into her warm, dark brown eyes.

"Edward, are you okay?"

The teen took another deep breath and steadied himself, shaking off the woman's grip. "I'm fine. Let's just do this already."

The woman tilted her head slightly, but chose not to press any further. With one last concerned glance, she turned around and led him down the stairs, this time with him right behind her.

Just like before, the basement was filled with free-ranging chimeras. Only this time, the three books Edward fetched sat neatly stacked on the coffee table closest to the Northwest window. Wedged between the table and those books were various scraps of loose-leaf papers. The table-space Fiona called her lab looked exactly the same, though. Fiona seated herself on one of the couches and motioned for him to sit down on that same couch.

As soon as he was seated, she began speaking. "To learn bio-alchemy, one must first know a fair amount of actual biology. Now, studying live subjects and dissecting dead ones takes a lot of time and effort. It would normally take someone about ten years to get familiar enough with biology to start alchemy, but my grandfather came up with a brilliant way to bypass this. We're going to condense those ten years into less than three months by using analysis circles."

Edward frowned and leaned forward. "Analysis circles?"

The woman slid the books aside and handed him the first piece of paper. It had a complex-looking circle on it, which consisted mostly of runes he himself didn't recognize. The ones he could decipher were placed in locations he never seen them in before. So far, he couldn't make heads or tails of what it was supposed to do. Interesting.

"That's an analysis circle," Fiona explained. "It lets you… er, see inside a living animal without hurting it."

Edward leaned back and stewed on that for a moment, trying to decide if he was okay with it or not. After about three seconds he concluded that he needed more information.

"Okay. So how does it work?"

She gave him a warm smile. "I'm glad you asked. You have to know anyway, but it's great that you're interested."

Then she took another paper off the coffee table and showed it to him. It was another similar circle, but with a slightly different arrangement of runes. "Well, the truth is, the circles don't all work the same way. They all have slightly different functions as to what they do. This is because it would be hell on your brain if you tried looking at everything all at once. So my grandfather split it up into specialized circles. They each look at a specific biological system. The one you're holding looks at the respiratory system. This one looks at the circulatory system."

Edward blinked. "Uh-huh. So how exactly do these circles look into an animal?"

She put the paper down. Then she gestured for Edward to hand over the respiratory circle. He did. She flattened the paper out in front of them.

"It's not really _looking_ per se, but more like _feeling_. You know how when you activate a circle, everything you know about what you're changing just kind of… comes to you?"

He nodded.

"Well, it's the same principal for all kinds of circles. If you're changing say, the rate at which an animal's lungs function, all the information about those lungs are going to come pouring into your head."

Edward frowned. Something wasn't right with that idea. "But, don't you have to know everything about those lungs to even _do_ that? That's the whole point of alchemy: you know what your changing beforehand."

Fiona smiled and shook her head. "Not if the circle provides that information for you."

He knitted his brow. Fiona pointed to a grouping of runes on the circle. "These symbols are for collecting information. Before the circle even begins its main function, these runes fetch information first and plug it into these empty slots. These are learning circles, Ed."

Edward leaned back into the couch and let out an exasperated sigh. This was his very first lesson and he was already having a tough time understanding things. He'd never heard of a learning circle before. How was that even possible?

Fiona gave him a sympathetic look. "I didn't get it either, at first. My dad gave me analogy after analogy, and I still didn't get it. Until I used a circle for the first time."

Edward's eyes widened as he realized what she was getting at. "You mean… wait! I'm not going-"

The woman smirked. "Oh, relax. I still have some more explaining to do. But yes, you will be using this circle tonight."

Edward opened his mouth to protest, but Fiona cut him off.

"Anyway, like I said earlier, to use real bio-alchemy one must know biology. Over the next three months you're going to use analysis circles to look at all the various specimens we can get our hands on. You'll be looking at one system at a time, starting with the easier ones. Your first assignment is to learn all you can about respiratory systems."

He didn't like it. Not one bit. But it made sense to him, at least. And if Fiona had come as far as to discover the secret of separating chimeras, then perhaps he could trust her methods. She said her grandfather fathered the analysis circles, and her father taught her alchemy. Clearly the Kuhn family had been honing these methods for generations.

He sighed. "Alright. So… this circle. What does it _actually_ do to the lungs?"

Fiona smiled. "It speeds up the rate of breathing ever so slightly. It's barely noticeable to the animal, and it doesn't hurt one bit."

Edward crossed his arms over his chest and quirked a brow. "Oh yeah? How do you know? Maybe it hurts just a little bit."

She shook her head. "Nope. I've been on the receiving end of it."

A moment of confusion passed before his shoulders dropped. He could feel the blood drain from his face. "Y-You mean… that's human transmutation!"

She merely smirked at him. "No, it's not. You'd be surprised how many loopholes I've found in alchemy."

Before he could say anything, or even move, the woman seized his hand and pressed it against the circle on the table. When she retracted her hand and took his other, green light illuminated the basement as the circle activated before his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

House of Echidna Ch. 5

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

He could feel _everything_.

He could feel the circle speeding up the movements of Fiona's lungs. He could feel the air enter through her nose and into her trachea, the diaphragm releasing pressure from the lungs to create a vacuum. It traced its way through a series of structures in the throat until splitting off down two separate tubes. Then it traveled through smaller and smaller branching tubes until reaching little sac-like structures covered in veins and arteries. His eyes widened as he realized there were _hundreds of millions_ of these things packed into her lungs.

He couldn't believe it. He was actually looking inside of the human body _as_ it functioned. It was… thrilling.

As Edward relaxed into the transmutation and leaned forward in interest, he realized he could go much deeper. He could mentally ask the circle to look at a specific part and it would gladly oblige. Before he knew it, minutes passed. He was so absorbed in his task that it jarred him when Fiona began talking.

"It's amazing, isn't it? Anything you could possibly want to know, and it's just _given_ to you."

Edward barely processed the meaning of the words. The moment she started talking, her vibrating vocal cords disrupted the system. And yet, it was part of the system, so he could feel how that worked, too.

He looked up at her with a grin. "This is awesome!"

She grinned back. "You know what's even better? You don't need another specimen to look at a human. If you're not touching another animal, the circle looks at _you_."

She let go of his other hand. The circle discarded information, cutting off his connection to her. Then the searching runes fetched information about _him_ and plugged it into the empty slots. Before he knew it, he was looking at _his own_ respiratory system. It had its slight variations due to his differing sex and age, but everything else felt the same. And just like Fiona said, the effects of the circle were barely noticeable, and didn't hurt one bit.

_And_ he hadn't been dragged back to the white void to face Truth.

_I guess this really isn't human transmutation._

When he was satisfied with this knowledge, he took his hand off the circle and looked up at Fiona again.

"Why isn't this common practice?" he asked. "I just basically mastered the human respiratory system in less than ten minutes. And imagine the possibilities for the medical field. With these circles you can diagnose someone in just a few minutes."

The woman sighed. "For the same reason every other great alchemy technique isn't common practice: the State Alchemist program."

Edward knitted his brow but didn't say anything.

"Ever since its inception," she continued, pulling out her silver pocket watch, "alchemists all across Amestris have kept their breakthroughs to themselves. They reserve the means to their alchemy so they stay useful to the military. If everyone knew everyone's secrets there would be no competition, no motivation to keep innovating, and no… er, special treatment. All that aside, my father has already tried introducing our techniques to hospitals here in Casier. Let's just say it didn't go over well. Like you, the staff thought it sounded too much like human transmutation."

He leaned back on the couch. All of that actually made a lot of sense. The only reason the military even hired alchemists was for their unique talents that couldn't be found anywhere else. His commanding officer, the Flame Alchemist- his fire alchemy was one of a kind. Edward's _own_ alchemy was also one of a kind: he was probably the only State Alchemist that could transmute without a circle.

As for the hospitals refusing the Kuhn family's techniques… he understood that perfectly as well. If he was a doctor and someone told him about a technique like that, he'd refuse to take any part in it, too.

But… he still didn't quite get something.

"So why teach me?" he asked, looking her right in the eyes.

She blinked. "Pardon?"

"Why teach me these techniques? You just said State Alchemists need to reserve the means to their alchemy. Why teach me everything your family has worked so hard to achieve? I'm a total stranger to you, _and _I'm another State Alchemist."

She pressed her lips together and looked down at the coffee table. She didn't say anything for a while. Then she let out a sigh through her nose.

"Because… bio-alchemy is different, Ed. There's no room to screw up. If a bio-alchemist makes a mistake, it means taking a life. If you're going to learn bio-alchemy, you'll need all the innovations you can get. I refuse to do a half-assed job just to keep my family's secrets."

Then she paused, as if thinking over her next words.

"...besides. I won't… have a successor. And Victor isn't interested in alchemy. After I'm gone, I don't want my family's techniques to die with me."

A bar of lead settled in Edward's stomach. He didn't know what to say to that. Thankfully, after a moment of uncomfortable silence, Fiona cleared her throat and changed the subject.

"Anyway, over the next week I want you to look at a variety of animals and their respiratory systems," she said, gesturing around the room at the chimeras. "This should include everything from adult and juvenile specimens to different phyla of animals, like marine animals. I want you to see as many different kinds of systems as you can."

Edward nodded, a little more accepting of his task now.

Then Fiona grabbed one of the books off the table: the oldest-looking one with the ripped leather cover. "When you're not busy with your assignment, your lessons over the week will consist of basic alchemy theory. I'll be showing you exactly how the analysis circles work."

She glanced at the clock. "We have a little bit of time left today. I say we get started now. There's a lot to go over."

Edward blinked. Did she think he didn't know alchemy at all?

"I already know basic alchemy theory," he told her, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm a State Alchemist too, remember?"

She smirked. "No offense, but I seriously doubt that. There's a lot more to alchemy than most people realize. Tell me, Edward, did your last alchemy teacher explain how source definitions work? Or even what they are?"

Edward opened his mouth to argue, but quickly found he had nothing to argue with.

_Source definitions…? What the heck are those?_

Taking his expression as his answer, Fiona audibly sighed. "Ah, yes, we have a _lot_ to cover."

o.O.0.O.o

"I feel like I'm going to melt," Victor whined, poking his breakfast with his fork.

Edward slid down a little further in his seat, silently agreeing. Since their arrival, the temperatures had been going no where but up. Last he checked, the thermometer outside read a sweltering thirty-three degrees Celsius. Even though he'd dealt with worse in Resembool, he was not equipped for the ungodly amount of humidity.

As it was, Edward had given up on his modesty the day before and finally settled for wearing a pair of borrowed shorts from Louis and a thin tee shirt. He figured since Louis paraded around with his automail exposed _all_ the time, he wouldn't look so bad in comparison a _couple_ of times.

Edward lazily glanced around the room. All of the windows were wide open, and an electric fan stood in the corner by the sink, doing its best to circulate the air. George lay spread out and panting on the tiles below the fridge. Like Victor, the rest of the people sitting at the table were equally disinterested in their warm breakfasts of scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon. May, stubborn as she was, looked ready to keel over from a heat stroke in her maid's attire. Fiona sprawled out shamelessly in her chair, not unlike Edward's own posture. Louis half-laid in his chair, his head hanging over the back with his mouth open.

Over the last few days, Edward had developed a shaky familiarity with the house and a haphazard routine. He would wake up and have breakfast with the rest of the estate occupants (excluding Al, of course). Then there was a middle portion of the day, after breakfast, where anything and everything could happen. This was almost always spent with May (or Louis on his days off) running random errands, escorting Victor to some place or another, or visiting with people he didn't know yet. Later in the evening, after dinner, he and Fiona would commence their usual bio-alchemy lessons. Finally, ever since their first day there, Edward made a habit of talking with Alphonse in his bedroom before turning in for the night.

Well, that and taking Buggie back to the basement, who followed him around like a shadow whenever he was actually inside the house. Edward glanced back and sure enough the animal sat by the doorway to the foyer, watching him with interest. Annoying as it was, he'd rather have her spying on him than sitting on his lap.

Alphonse, on the other hand, spent most of the day reading in the library or taking care of the chimeras downstairs. Occasionally, he joined Edward on errands with May, but for the most part he stayed at the estate. In the evenings, at the same time as Edward's lessons with Fiona, Alphonse would go on a walk with Victor and George.

So far, nothing bad happened. Staying at the Kuhn estate wasn't eerie and quiet like the Tucker residence. It was loud, warm, and always filled with a flurry of activity, even at night. The teen stifled a laugh when he remembered their second night: one of the larger chimeras learned how to open the basement door and got into the house at around three in the morning. Louis thought it was a burglar and had it pinned against the wall with a shot-gun. The deer-dog blend peed on the carpet.

Besides the improved atmosphere, he was starting to get used to Fiona's teaching method. She explained things in a way that made everything sound so easy and simple. In no time, Edward had a firm grasp of the illusive source definition concept, which turned out to be a logical no-brainer. _Of course_ humans created alchemy, and defined all of its symbols. And _of course_ humans could still make new symbols and better tailor their alchemy to their needs. She also kept things varied. She never hung on a single concept for too long before switching gears. She even helped him find good specimens for studying. She bribed Victor into being a lab rat so Edward could get an understanding of how human lungs developed over time.

After looking through most of the chimeras, and the occasional normal animal whose owner condoned study, Edward could say with confidence that he knew a good amount about how air was processed and utilized in an animal. And this was -what?- after only three days? He hadn't even finished the week.

Yet, he still hadn't seen what the Colonel wanted him to see. And he probably wouldn't for a while. He had a sinking feeling it pertained to Fiona's chimera-separation alchemy.

The teen glanced over at George, who was still sprawled out on the tiles beneath the refrigerator. Edward examined him three times, and he couldn't find a single flaw. He was a perfectly ordinary specimen compared to the other dogs he looked at. The technique behind his separation was probably the "revolutionary" method the Colonel was trying to show him.

If that was the case, then Edward wanted to enjoy his "normal" lessons while they lasted. He was _not_ looking forward to working with chimeras. Even if the estate spoke volumes for Fiona's humane methods. Luckily for him, that wouldn't come for quite some time. She told him they wouldn't be moving into actual bio-alchemy until he learned enough biology, which would take a few months. And chimera-bio-alchemy was the last objective.

In the meantime, Edward was determined to take it easy. Now that he was in a long term commitment as a student, he didn't have to go on those petty missions anymore. For the first time in a very long time, he and Al were allowed to relax and act their own age. Act normal.

Edward wasn't even sure if he knew what normal _was_ anymore. He'd only interacted with adults since their horrible mistake. (Well, except for Winry, but she hardly counted as normal.)

Suddenly George let out a loud whine, pulling Edward out of his musings. When he looked over, he noticed the dog had wandered over to the doorwall. His tail wagged as he watched a squirrel make its way across the backyard.

Apparently, everyone was in a bit of a daze until then, because soon after May piped up. "Hey, Edward, you specialize in earth alchemy, right?"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Why?"

"I owe Mrs. Banner a favor, and I was hoping you could help me out with something."

He quirked a brow. "Go on."

She let out a sigh. "Well, last week, her sons wrecked the family's statue garden. Apparently, the statues are -or were- very valuable on the art market. I think it would be a wonderful way to pay her back if I had someone fix them up."

He paused for a moment. Then he shrugged. "Sure. I should probably brush up on my technique, anyway."

Her shoulders dropped. "Great."

Then Louis snapped out of his little power-nap. "Hm…? Where am I?"

"You're in the kitchen, dear," Fiona said, sitting up.

"Right," he mumbled, giving the room a once-over. "Hey, before I forget, I need a travel buddy. Anyone up for a day trip to the Cretan border?"

"Busy," Fiona, Victor, and May said in unison.

Edward was apparently busy now, too, but he gave it a thought. "I'm sure Alphonse would be thrilled to go with you."

Louis's eyes brightened. "Really?"

"Oh, absolutely. He loves to travel."

"Who loves to travel?" a voice from the door asked.

Edward's armored brother was standing there with a stack of books under his arm.

Louis peeled himself out of his chair (leaving some impressive red marks on his skin) and grinned up at him. "Why _you_, of course! You're coming with me to the Cretan border!"

If armor could blink, Alphonse's would have right then. "I am?"

"Yes, indeed-y! Oh, it'll be great! The sights, the sounds, the smells! I can taste the tumbleweeds already!"

Before Alphonse could respond, the blond man looped his arm through the armor's and led him into the foyer, and afterward it sounded like up the stairs. Once they were out of sight and earshot, Fiona cleared her throat and looked at Victor.

"What are _you_ busy with today? It's your day off."

The kid stuck his tongue out. "I'm busy not eating air-dirt. Besides, George needs a bath."

Said dog let out another whine and looked back at the kid. Edward could've sworn that dog had fear in his eyes.

"Alright," Fiona chuckled. Then she gave May a look. "I guess I'll stay home and babysit for once."

With that, the maid nodded and un-stuck herself from her chair as well. Once she started cleaning up the table, everyone else followed suit, and the collective sound of skin being peeled off of wood filled the kitchen.


	6. Chapter 6

House of Echidna Ch. 6

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

Edward stood under the archway looking over the Banner family statue garden, horror filling his face.

"Gha! It's- it's in complete _ruins_!" he shrieked.

There was no other way to describe it. It _was_ in complete ruins. Besides the broken stone from the statues littering the ground, even the shrubbery was torn to pieces and strewn everywhere. The wooden benches were in splinters. What Edward assumed used to be a fountain spat out torrents of water at random from the broken pipe sticking out of its rubble.

"Why, thank you!" said the twin Edward believed to be Ernst.

"We really did a number on it, didn't we?" said the other, Otto.

"We're great at destroying stuff, but what we _really_ want to do is create."

Their mother scowled and gave one of them a disapproving swat upside the head. "More like create me an ulcer!"

Then Edward turned around to look at the angry woman. "Do you at least have a photograph of what it used to look like?"

"Oh, absolutely," she assured him. "I have many photographs of all the statues. It would've been unwise to not, knowing these two idiots."

She handed him a cream-colored envelope. He breathed out a small sigh of relief as he took it. While he leafed through the images, Mrs. Banner (who turned out to be the lady Al asked for directions on the first day) began filling him in on the details of the job.

"The statues are all made of white marble. The larger pieces are probably right here in the garden, but you might have to go hunting for the smaller shards if you feel like you need them. _My sons_ can help you with that."

The twins each slapped on a nervous grin.

"We love you, mom!" said Otto.

"Yeah, you're the best!" said Ernst.

She crossed her arms over her chest and continued. "Anyway, from what I understand about alchemy, sometimes it leaves behind a rectangular pattern. This is totally fine, since the original statues were actually made with alchemy. I doubt the patterns being in different spots will affect their value."

Edward's shoulders loosened a bit. His alchemy probably wouldn't leave behind any pattern at all, but it was nice to know he had some breathing room. He nodded.

She glanced around the garden one last time. "I think that's all. The twins are staying here and helping with anything you need. They are your assistants for the day."

She spat out those last couple of sentences with a little more malice. Then she turned around and marched back into the apartment building, leaving Edward and the twins alone to do the job.

After looking between the garden and the photographs for a moment, Edward decided he wanted to work on the dog statue first. He nodded to himself and cleared his throat.

"Alright," he said, holding up the photograph, "if you two are my assistants, why don't you start by helping me find all the pieces to this one."

In no time, the pieces they could easily identify were gathered into a small pile where the statue used to be. Edward crouched down and looked at the photo one last time: it depicted a fluffy collie sitting in a strong lion-like stance, its chin up and its intense gaze pointed straight forward. It looked rather noble… for a little sheep dog. It reminded him of Den, if he had all his legs and a longer coat.

Edward took a deep breath and stretched his arms forward to begin the transmutation. But the twins' words stopped him in his tracks.

"What are you doing?" asked Ernst.

"Don't you need to draw the circle first?" added Otto.

He blinked and looked up at them. They were each stationed at his sides, crouched down like him and looking over his shoulder. He dropped his arms and let out a heavy sigh. This was going to be a long day.

He glared up at them and said, "I don't need to draw the circle."

Without further explanation, he clapped his hands together and thrust them onto the pile of rubble. In the reflection of his exposed arm plate, he could see the twins' faces lighting up in awe as the blue electricity filled their backyard, reconstructing the noble stone dog before their very eyes. A small grin pulled at Edward's lips.

Once the collie returned to its original state, it gleamed proudly in the early afternoon sunlight. Edward inspected its surface, detected no alchemical patterns, and gave it an approving nod. Before he could even stuff the photo back into the envelope, the twins once again interrupted his train of thought.

"Woaaaah! That was _awesome_!" said Otto, sliding his hands along the statue.

Ernst grinned at his twin. "Oh, I am definitely learning alchemy now!"

Then they both turned to him and asked in unison, "How did you _do_ that?"

Edward scowled and crossed his arms. "That's for me to know and for you to hopefully never find out."

"Aww, come on, man! Pleeeeaaase?"

"You're, like, probably younger than us. I mean, we've heard that you're some kind of super genius, but this is ridiculous. Seriously, what's your secret?"

"I can't tell you," Edward told them, already rifling through the other photos. "Alchemist's code of honor. I suggest you quit asking."

"Well, could you at least tell us how long it took you to learn that?" Ernst pressed.

Edward looked up at them carefully, biting his lip. Then, after a short pause, he said, "About six years."

The twins shared a look- a look he and Al often shared when setting their minds to something. Then they looked back at him with wild grins.

"We'll do it in five."

He snorted. Maybe these twins would turn out alright.

"You think anyone's tried using alchemy to make fireworks before?" Otto asked his brother.

"Probably not. We'll have to be the first then," said Ernst.

Edward winced. Maybe not.

o.O.0.O.o

Later that evening, when the approaching sunset was just starting to turn the sky that brilliant orange, the restored statues glistening in the dimming light. Almost all of them were finished, and without so much as a single rectangle marring their smooth surfaces. Edward's chest swelled with pride as he admired his handiwork. He only had three more statues left to go and the job would be done. The photographs spread out on the lawn depicted a couple ice-skating together, a horse rearing up, and a fierce lion-bear chimera positioned to look like it was just about to pounce. He had to admit: the artist that made the statues had vision. Emotions the teen thought he'd never see the likes of again were resurfacing after years of repression.

Also resurfacing after years of repression was Edward's knowledge base of how kids interacted with one another. He hadn't been around people his age for this long in… well, a long time. He'd grown accustomed to the slightly detrimental, but overall well-meaning, conversing between grown men. But as he listened to the twins joke around and jab at each other, he realized just how different the two types of interactions were. The slang alone was a tough nut to crack, but he simply couldn't wrap his head around the sort of dialect they'd adopted. It was like they were speaking a whole other version of Amestrian.

Not that Edward payed special attention to the constant nattering behind him. But rather he couldn't quite tune it out anyway. What he actually made an effort to do, however, was watch them through the reflection in his automail arm. Not to be a creeper or anything, but just to see if that slapping noise really was someone getting slapped.

Edward stole another glance at the warped metal. He never fully got to appreciate that particular function of his automail, because he always had it covered up before. But here in Casier, where he'd probably pass out if he covered himself up, he was forced to suck it up and deal with the stares.

As it turned out, he didn't get very many stares. From his few days taking walks through the city with May, he noticed about every twentieth person had some form of automail, and none of them looked self-conscious about it. Furthermore, not once had Edward been asked how he got his. It seemed such questions were the socially agreed-upon taboo of the city. Not even the ever-inquisitive Banner twins crossed that line. This was a huge relief to Edward, who was used to the all-around ignorance of Central.

Edward had just decided to tackle the horse statue next when Otto suddenly snapped his fingers, effectively bringing him back to the present.

"I think the next meet is this Saturday, right?" the twin asked.

Ernst bit his thumbnail. "I thought Saturday was a bad day for Kelly. Didn't we move it to Sunday?"

"You know, I think you're right. Either way, Joe is getting creamed!"

The evil grin on Ernst's face was clearly evident even in his warped reflection. "Oh, absolutely. He's not getting away with breaking Jane's heart like that. I call dibs on the first heat. I wanna be the one to concave his stupid face."

Then Otto's eyes lit up and he turned to the blond alchemist. "Hey, you're the Fullmetal Alchemist, right? I bet you have one hell of a throwing arm."

A smirk crept across his face. "Yes. I do, actually. Why?"

The twins shared a grin.

"You should come with us to our next wreck-it ball meet," Ernst suggested. "We'll be down a player after the first two heats or so."

Edward knit his brow. "Wreck-it ball? Don't you mean racket ball?"

"Oh, no," Otto said with a smirk. "It's much more… _violent_ than that."

Now Edward could imagine how the garden might've come to be in the state it was, and it wasn't a pretty picture. He could feel some blood drain from his face. Were kids really that rowdy, or were the Banner twins and their friends a special case? Either way, the affair sounded just about as destructive as a typical military mission. He didn't want to give Commander Horse Face another reason to chew him out.

"I don't know…" Edward said carefully. "That sounds fun and all, but I've got better things to do than play ball with a bunch of kids."

The twins' eyes widened a bit at that, but not for long.

"What's the matter?"

"You're not _scared_, are ya?"

"I thought you big-shot State Alchemists weren't afraid of nothing."

Suddenly all that blood came rushing back to Edward's face. The little shits! They were playing the chicken card on him? Really? The Fullmetal Alchemist?

_They are _so_ getting their asses handed to them,_ Edward thought.

"Fine. Where and what time?"

o.O.0.O.o

"Um, Louis? Are you sure we're in the right place?"

Alphonse had a bad feeling about this. Even though he'd seen his share of shifty places, this one would've made his skin crawl if he had any.

To start, it was located ten miles away from the nearest town, with a little footpath connected to a poorly-maintained dirt road. The structure itself couldn't even be properly considered a building- more like a run-down tractor shed. Surrounding it was nothing but bean fields as far as the eye could see. If anyone screamed for help out here, no one would hear them.

The guy driving the wagon cleared his throat. "Well, I'll be leavin' now. I ain't comin' back, so find yer own way out when yer done."

"Duly noted! Thanks for the lift!" Louis said with a toothy smile.

"My condolences," the man mumbled, "crazy fellers…"

With that the driver flicked the horse reins and hastily rode off back up the road.

Alphonse looked down at the blond man. "So… um, what was that about?"

Louis gave a careless wave over his shoulder. "Ah, don't mind him. People around here don't trust this guy, is all."

"Is that…?" asked a new voice, "people talking?"

As soon as he heard it, Alphonse's shoulders dropped. The voice sounded young, like a teenager. And most importantly: very friendly. A wide smile and an easygoing tone was very evident in the four words that he'd spoken so far. Suddenly all of the younger Elric's worries were washed away.

Sure enough, when the sheet-metal door slammed open, he could see a dirt-caked young man wrangling himself out of a hole in the ground. Louis rushed forward and gave him a hand. When he was standing upright and in full sight, Alphonse noticed he was wearing a baggy miner's uniform and an antique pair of goggles on his head, much like Louis's. He had dark hair and bright blue eyes, like May. By the looks of him, he couldn't have been any older than sixteen. The two shared a wide grin and a painful-looking high-five.

"Louis, you rascal!" the teen greeted loudly. "Run out of your _supplies_ already?"

"You bet. I had one of my _special_ customers come by last month. Cleaned out my whole inventory."

Then his bright blue eyes flicked over at the armor.

"You hire a bodyguard?"

Louis scrunched his lip up and shook his head. "Nah man, check this: he's my fiance's student's younger brother. One of the Elric brothers."

The teen tilted his head. "Elric… Where've I heard that name? Meh, anyway, good to meet ya. The name's Antoine Thomas, but everyone just calls me Mole."

Alphonse shook his outstretched hand. "My name's Alphonse. You can call me Al, if you want."

Louis clapped the armor's back. "Isn't he a peach? Anyway, have you had any new stock come through yet?"

Mole snorted. "After last week's fiasco? I don't think it's safe yet. But I guess since you came all this way I can arrange _something_. How's a new shipment of nitro sound?"

Louis thought on it for a moment. "Where's it from?"

"Denswell district, upper ring."

Louis grinned. "Ah! The good stuff!"

"You know it!"

The blond man slapped him a handshake. "You got yourself a deal. My buddy from Dublith's been asking about a new shipment anyway."

From what Alphonse listened to so far, Louis's business deals with the kid sounded kind of shady. Then again, the guy did run an import shop. If cursed jewelry and human skulls was the standard inventory, then one could bet there would be a hidden market of less-than-legal selections as well. For someone who clearly operated a black market in the middle of a dense city, Louis was a very carefree guy.

Mole gazed up the road. "I don't have the shipment here now, obviously. My buddy on the West side's got it in his ma's basement. Mind walking with me to town?"

Louis snorted. "They still don't like you much, eh?"

"Not since getting busted last month. The police are still looking for me."

"Well, you did ruin their nice jailhouse floors."

"It was made of wood, what'd they expect?"

Louis tapped his chin. "So you need to get to West side, eh? That's too far for a quick sprint. You'll probably need some kind of disguise. Something convincing…"

Then they both slowly turned their heads up to look at the armor. Three seconds ticked by before Al figured out why.

"Oh, absolutely not!"

He crossed his arms over his chest and straightened his back a little, trying to look stubborn like his brother.

It didn't work.

"Aw, come on!" Louis said. "Help a buddy out."

The kid looked up at him, trying and failing to give him some kind of cute puppydog look. Yet, Alphonse remained unmoving and silent. Even if what they planned on doing didn't sound like some kind of drug-smuggling scheme ripped out of a mystery novel, he couldn't lend the guy his armor anyway. He _was_ his armor.

"No," he said firmly.

Then something… unsettling happened. Louis's blue pleading eyes softened and his face dropped, as if he suddenly remembered something. The look he gave Alphonse next was unmistakably pity. He got the same exact one from Fiona at the dinner table their first night at the estate. Like Louis somehow _knew_.

The man cleared his throat.

"You know, what? I think I have a better idea."

Mole cut the puppydog act. "Yeah? What ya got?"

"We'll take the sewers into town, come up at the park, and scoot across the back alleys behind Jinger's. The buddy you mentioned- that's Marv, right?"

The kid nodded. "Yep. His ma's house is right behind the bar. That'll work."

At this point, Alphonse tuned them out. While they were fine-tuning the details of their route, the pre-teen did a mental tally of his memories since meeting the blond man. He couldn't think of anything that might've given his condition away. Except for refusing dinner, of course.

He supposed it didn't really matter much. After all, the soon-to-be husband and wife made it subtly clear they weren't freaked out by him. Nor did they seem willing to rat him out. At least, not intentionally. In any case, now that he'd seen Louis give him that same look, Alphonse knew it was time to tell Ed.

"...how's that sound?" Louis said loudly, look up at him.

Alphonse froze. "Um.. I'm sorry, what?"

"We're going to pick up a shipment in town. You coming with us?"

"Well… it beats staying out here in the middle of nowhere."

Louis clapped his back again with a smile. "That's the spirit."

With that they began their ten mile hike back to town.


	7. Chapter 7

House of Echidna Ch. 7

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

As it turned out, the trip into town was a lot more complicated than Louis made it sound. The sewers weren't bad, but Louis's idea of "scooting across" the back alleys didn't line up with Alphonse's. At _all_.

"Louis, you're going to fall!" Alphonse shouted over the wind.

Mole leaned over to grin at him. "Don't worry about it, man! He's done this a million and six times! Right, Louis?"

"You got it!"

Alphonse didn't care how many times he'd done it. Riding on the top of a gondola and only holding onto the connectors simply wasn't safe. The armor stole a glance upward to see Louis's alchemy light starting to fade. How long could the man keep up that transmutation before he burnt himself out?

The steel trap was retired ten some odd years before, Mole told him. The bucket and the lines it hung on had rusted considerably in that time. It screeched its way from the park all the way to the West end of town, turning around at the train-station. The plan was to jump off at some point onto the roof of the bar they mentioned earlier.

Besides the obvious safety violations, their chosen method of travel was noisy, but surprisingly not attention-drawing. Apparently the town was outfitted with eight active gondolas, all of which were zipping about with full buckets of people. They were not alone as they journeyed the high wires, and they didn't get so much as a glance from people up there with them or the pedestrians down below.

This was all fine and well, but Alphonse failed to see why they couldn't just take the sewers all the way to the bar. Sure this was faster. A _lot _faster, actually. But he didn't want to witness a brutal death by six story drop to the sidewalk.

He glanced up at Louis's silhouette again. The man _did_ hold himself with a reasonable amount of confidence, Alphonse supposed. If he fell, Alphonse could simply transmute the siding of the bucket to extend out and catch him. And if Louis stopped his transmutation, the worst that would happen was the gondola would stop moving.

Finally, with those thoughts in mind, Alphonse released the "tension" in his shoulder plating. He settled for looking down at the city, which was grimy and kind of run-down looking. But in the mid-afternoon sunshine, it looked like any other bustling town. It actually resembled a smaller version of Rush Valley, only without all the automail shops.

Setting it apart more than looks, though, Venro had high criminal activity. It was a border town, which meant a healthy residence of smugglers and black marketeers. One example of each probably being the kid who sat next to him and the man up above operating the gondola. Furthermore, from his vantage point above the back alleys, Alphonse was sure he'd seen about four muggings and two gang jumps. The police officers (which were patrolling everywhere) didn't even give the events so much as a sideways glance. They only seemed to go after the people unlucky enough to look like they were hiding something in their trench-coats.

Despite the grim-ness of it all, Alphonse let out a little chuckle. Ed would get arrested in a heartbeat here.

Suddenly the gondola screeched to a halt, jarring Alphonse out of his thoughts.

"Um, guys?" Louis said in a low voice. "We've got trouble."

Mole stood up to glance over the rail and gasped. Alphonse followed suit soon after.

Up ahead, the span of wire continued undisturbed until it reached the next support pole. After which, however, the wire was severed and dangling threateningly over someone's pond. While both of those things were concerning, they were nothing compared to the trouble Louis probably meant.

Where the wire had been severed, five people stood on the roof of a tall building. They all wore dark clothing, with hoods shadowing their faces. Even from their distance and altitude, Alphonse could clearly see the anger in the eyes of the husky man that stood in front. The pair of obvious branch cutters he held told Alphonse he was the one that cut the wire. Once he dropped them and started walking, Louis slipped through the window and dropped into the bucket.

"We gotta move," he said, looking at Mole.

The kid gave him a quick nod and pulled out a pocket knife. He bent down and cut something under the gondola, and a rope ladder suddenly dropped down. The kid flew down it first, then Louis motioned for Alphonse to go next. Alphonse knew better than to argue or ask questions. Finally, once Louis was safely on the roof below with them, they took off.

The two obviously knew the town well. They hair-pinned around corners, slid down drain pipes, and sprinted through alleys faster than Ed typically could on their chases through Central. Alphonse, of course, had no trouble keeping up and he wouldn't tire, but it was a bit challenging to keep track of them as they zipped through the streets.

After about five minutes of running, Louis stopped behind a random building. Mole collapsed onto the ground, obviously not as in shape as the blond man. Not quite sure what to do, Alphonse made some fake panting noises and hunched over with his hands on his knees.

"I think we lost them," Louis said.

Then he looked around. "It's probably best we take the sewers from here."

"No duh," Mole quipped, using the wall to pull himself up.

Alphonse straightened. "Um, yeah _no duh_. What the heck was _that_? Who were those guys, and why were they after us?"

For a minute or so, no one said anything. Louis avoided his gaze and fiddled with his shoelaces. Mole kept his head down and slid back down the wall to sit down. Alphonse crossed his arms over his chest and continued to wait.

Finally, Mole sighed. "Those people- they were members of the Cobra gang. They were after me. I'm sorry I put you guys in danger…"

Louis looked down at the kid. The amount of empathy in his eyes was a bit concerning to see. Then the man cleared his throat and looked away before Alphonse could dissect it any further.

"Yeah, well… we lost them. No harm done. Let's just pick up this shipment and be done."

Alphonse wasn't quite ready to drop the subject just yet. He'd tagged along with Louis thinking they'd talk with a few people, pick up some supplies, and be on their merry way back to Casier. He wasn't aware there could possibly be life-threatening situations to deal with. Sure, he knew ahead of time they were going to a border town, but for once he wasn't there to bust heads with his brother. He expected the trip to go a little smoother. Apparently, his luck wouldn't have it.

And yet, Alphonse didn't know what to say. It wasn't like he could chew Louis out for bringing him along to a gang chase. Clearly, he had no idea it would happen, since he wasn't prepared for it and didn't bother mentioning the possibility. Also, Mole told them the gang was after _him_. Suddenly Alphonse could see why their first thoughts were to stick him inside his armor. That probably would've worked out a lot better.

So Alphonse kept silent as the two stood and began walking to the nearest manhole cover.

As soon as they approached it, however, it flew open. The metal clanged loudly against the cobblestone street as a couple of men climbed out of the ground. One look at their hooded attire and Alphonse knew they were the same men from before.

Louis and Mole whirled around to retreat back up the alley, but another pair of men were standing in the way. Finally, blocking the only other exit, the last one came walking up the third alleyway. They were surrounded.

_This isn't good,_ Alphonse thought. _It's three against five, and I'm not sure if Louis and Mole can fight. So it might be all up to me._

The armor slid into a familiar defensive stance, hoping the fight he anticipated wouldn't get too out of hand. This only made the one standing closest to him grin, though, revealing a silver tooth.

"Relax, big guy," he said. "We're only here for the rat."

Alphonse couldn't see his face, but he heard a snort from Louis. "Yeah? Well, the rat isn't going anywhere. Get lost!"

One of the gang members snorted. When she spoke, it was rough and deep, but clearly feminine. "Ooo. Those are some tough words coming from a scrouny little merchant. Whadya say, boss? Should we give him an attitude adjustment?"

The man with the silver tooth tilted his head in thought. But before he could speak, Louis spat,

"You're the one getting the attitude adjustment, chick-y! Hey, Al?"

"Y-Yes?"

"You're an alchemist like your brother, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Excellent…"

The woman took a step back, looking between the two. But the guy with the silver tooth scowled. "I rather thought we could do this the easy way. But I guess the hard way gets the job done in any case."

Quick like a viper, the man's hand dove into his jacket and brought out a pistol. In a matter of two seconds, the safety was clicked off and the nose was pointed straight for Louis's head.

Louis, Mole, and Alphonse froze.

_Not good, not good, NOT GOOD!_ Alphonse thought frantically.

The man with the gun nodded his head in a quick gesture. "Get the rat."

With that, three of the gang members stepped forward to grab Mole, whose eyes were positively bugging out of his head. However, the lady who spoke before only laid her hand on his bicep when suddenly the ground started shaking. This put the gang members in a mild panic. The shaking escalated until finally the man with the silver tooth had to drop his gun and get down.

Alphonse was wondering how an earthquake had managed to occur: they were right in the middle of a geologic plate! Then he glanced down to see Louis crouched on the ground. He had one hand on the pavement and another on one of his tattoos. It must've been an alchemy circle.

"Alphonse!" he shouted. "Make a wall!"

He didn't have to be told twice. A moment later, a cobble stone wall shot out of the street, encircling them and pushing the gang members back. Finally, Louis let go of his tattoo and the shaking stopped. Before Alphonse could ask any questions, the man grabbed the kid by the arm, busted the back of the wall open and motioned for Alphonse to follow.

They didn't get very far. As soon as they rounded the first corner, a gunshot rang out.

Everyone froze, but no one dropped to the ground. The armor whipped around to see the lady standing a ways behind them, holding the now smoking gun. Her hood had flown off to reveal blonde hair sporting a pixie cut. As she stood there panting and still holding the gun up, Alphonse noticed her eyes: they were filled with profound horror.

Alphonse looked back at Louis and Mole. They were both standing ahead of him, panting as well, but they didn't look hurt. Though they had the same look of horror as they stared at him.

Then he heard it: the soft, distant clang of metal dropping on stone.

He turned around to see his helmet, which landed a good ten meters away next to a dumpster. The woman must've shot his helmet clean off. To reveal…

"Y-You…" the woman stuttered, "y-your- you don't have a head!"

The gun fell out of her grip, and she took a few clumsy steps back. Soon enough, the rest of the gang members caught up to them, and halted in their tracks.

"What in God's name is _that?!_" someone shouted.

"L-Let's get out of here!"

With that they retreated. Once they were out of sight, Alphonse's shoulder plating loosened in relief. But then it tightened again as he turned around to see Mole equally horrified. Louis, however, retrieved his helmet and offered it back to him.

"Well, at least some good came out of that. They're gone. And they probably won't come back."

All of the humor was gone from his voice. His face was solemn as Alphonse clicked his helmet back into place. The man shoved his hands into his pockets and twisted around to look at Mole.

"It's alright, kid. He won't bite."

The kid blinked a couple of times. Then slowly he unfroze. He took a few uneasy steps towards them, never taking his eyes off the armor.

"I-Is this what you meant by-"

"Yes," Louis said, quickly cutting him off. A slight jerk of the head made it obvious Louis didn't want Mole to finish that sentence.

Mole's shoulders lowered. The expression of horror melted into awkwardness, and then into slight curiosity. But he didn't ask anything.

Louis cleared his throat. "We should get going."

o.O.0.O.o

On the train-ride back to Casier, Alphonse wrung his gauntlets together. He made a habit of looking between the floor and out the window next to him. Only rarely did he sneak a glance of the man sitting next to him. He didn't seem to take any notice of Alphonse's nervous fidgeting. But, then again, Louis had engrossed himself in his business-related paperwork.

However, it wasn't long until he finished the last page. After the man returned the papers to his suitcase, he let out a content sigh. Then he finally glanced up at the armor.

"You look tense."

_Really?_ Alphonse thought bitterly. _Just stating the obvious now, are we? _

The armor crossed his arms and kept his voice down. "Of course I'm tense. You just found out I'm missing a body in here, and you haven't said a word out it."

A little red dusted his cheeks. "Well… I don't know what to say. I mean, I'm not exactly surprised. I've seen that kind of thing a lot of times, considering I live in the house of Echidna."

That last comment threw him off. "The house of Echidna? What does that mean?"

"It's an Aerugonian folktale," he said, waving his hand. "But… I suppose you wouldn't know it. Well, in the legends, Echidna was considered the mother of monsters. She even gave birth to the first chimera. So my point is I live in a house full of chimeras. I've seen a thing or two. Not to mention Fiona's alchemy makes use of your condition when she fixes chimeras."

When that finally sunk in a few seconds later, he jumped.

"_What?!_"

Louis laughed. Then he quieted his voice back down. "You know, I had a feeling that military officer was up to something. That horse guy?"

Then Louis tapped his knuckles against his shoulder plating.

"This is probably why he sent your brother to learn under Fiona."

A million thoughts were racing through the pre-teen's mind. If he had a body, he was sure he'd be dizzy by now.

"What do you mean by _that_? Explain yourself."

Louis looked around the train-car. "It's not really my place to say. I don't know enough about Fiona's alchemy to tell you exactly what she does. But I've seen her do it a million times: she can get you out of that armor."

o.O.0.O.o

Later that evening, Edward was with Fiona in the basement. His flesh hand was ungloved and submerged in one of the chimera tanks, his fingers curled loosely around a lobster.

"I think I get it now," he said. "The gills are located in the underbelly, so as long as they stay in a wet area-"

"They can breathe on land," Fiona finished with a grin. "That is absolutely correct."

Edward found himself grinning back. These little things were amazing, he decided. He found himself wishing he could take a trip to Aerugo and see more marine animals. Alas, he needed to finish his apprenticeship and fix his brother first. For the time being, he had to settle for studying the animals Fiona had in the tanks.

"Arthropods are actually one of the best surviving animals in earth's evolutionary history," Fiona explained. "They're the most numerous phylum of animal on the planet. Insects alone outnumber humans by about two-hundred million to one. It's a very efficient body type."

Edward blinked and looked down at the lobster. "So… we're really lucky they're all so small. Otherwise, _we_ would be at the bottom of the food chain."

"Ehhh… generally speaking, yes. But there's more to it than that. I mean, there's no way they'll ever get large enough to eat us."

"How come?"

"Well, there isn't enough oxygen-"

Suddenly, George started barking upstairs. Consequently, the chimeras started baying, hissing, growling, and screeching in response. The noise filled the basement and the two alchemists plugged their ears. Fiona simply rolled her eyes and began walking towards the stairway to see what all the fuss was about.

But then, momentarily stopping her in her tracks, a horrific scream ripped through the estate. George and the chimeras fell dead silent.

_**BANG! **_


	8. Chapter 8

House of Echidna Ch. 8

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

Edward sprung into action, much to Fiona's astonishment. The woman basically cowered under the steps as she watched her young pupil charge the intruder. While moronic and stupid on so many levels, the tactic actually worked in the kid's favor: the man looked up at the new figure charging him, which gave George enough time to execute his sneak-attack.

As soon as the canine's teeth sank into the man's shoulder, a chain reaction of unfortunate happenings befell him. Aside from his shoulder wound, the distraction gave Louis enough time to gather his bearings again and deliver a mean right hook to the jaw. Finally, effectively icing the cake, Edward sent a flying kick into his stomach.

The intruder slumped to the ground, and Fiona leapt up. After scooping Victor off the welcome mat and fleeing with him to the basement, she thought the boys could take care of it from there. But when she made her way back up the stairs, she realized the fight was far from over.

As soon as she finished barricading the basement door (locking it), Edward shouted, "LOOK OUT!"

Fiona made a mad dive for the stairs just in time to avoid being body-slammed by her beloved dog. George's squeal of pain as he hit the wall broke her heart, but she didn't have time to even glance at him. Before she knew it, the intruder had her pinned against the same wall, holding her up by the throat.

Fiona couldn't do much else besides retch and pry uselessly at the man's iron grip as she stared into his hateful red eyes.

"FIONA!" Louis's scream came, but she could barely hear it.

Monumentally unequipped for such severe circumstances, Fiona's untrained body shut down. Her limbs froze up and her eyesight dimmed. Mere seconds after her hearing left her completely, her consciousness followed suit. The last thing she remembered was seeing a bright flash of light.

o.O.0.O.o

Edward geared himself up for another flying kick. He figured choking his teacher gave the man enough distraction for him to pull it off again. Unfortunately, this time it didn't go so well.

The man's hand flung out just in time to intercept Edward's automail foot. A bright flash of light blinded him, and the next thing he knew he was on the floor, Louis dragging him away.

Edward blinked the spots out of his eyes. "I'm fine, save Fiona!"

Louis didn't have to be told twice. As soon as Edward was lying on the welcome mat, the blond man dropped him and dashed back into the fray. He grabbed the nearest object he could find (the little potted plant on the stair-post) and chucked it at the intruder's head.

To everyone's surprise, it hit home. The pottery shattered against the side of the man's head. Even an almighty alchemist couldn't walk away from a blow like that. The intruder dropped like a sack of potatoes, and Fiona went down with him.

o.O.0.O.o

A few days later, Edward sat in his bedroom with a scowl on his face and Buggie on his lap. Alphonse sat on the recliner by the window, trying not to laugh. Meanwhile Winry was just trying not to murder her patient.

"How could you, Ed?! Do you have any idea how long it took me to make this leg for you? I spent a week just designing it! And it took you -what?- a couple of seconds to completely demolish it?!"

Edward clenched his jaw shut. "Hey! _I_ didn't demolish it! That guy did, alright?"

"Like that makes things any better! I'm beginning to think you're too reckless to waste expensive metals on. Maybe downgrading you to aluminum will make you think twice before wrecking my hard work!"

Edward's eyes widened. "Winry! What was I supposed to do? He attacked the estate! It wasn't like I went _looking_ for a fight!"

"He's right, Winry," Alphonse added. "This time it really wasn't his fault."

The blonde loosened her shoulders and paused. Then she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Right. Well, I guess…"

Edward crossed his arms. "You guess what?"

"I guess," she continued with a glare, "you'll just have to live with a regular prosthetic for a couple of weeks."

Edward bolted upright, startling Buggie. Alphonse let out a gasp noise.

"A couple of _weeks_?!"

"But… rebuilding his arm only takes a few days. Why do you need _two weeks_ to rebuild his leg?"

Winry crossed her arms and turned back to the desk, which was laden with tools, parts, and what remained of Edward's leg.

"Because, morons," she said, "Edward's arm doesn't have to constantly support half his body weight. Edward doesn't have to walk, run, or jump on his arm. A lot more goes into a leg than an arm."

She grabbed a couple of tools off the desk and turned to face them again. Her smirk did not bode well for Edward.

"Now, you're lucky he didn't damage your leg port. But I will have to replace a couple of parts just to be safe."

The blond groaned and fell back onto the bed. The next few minutes were filled with silence as Winry unscrewed the outer plating from his port. It was only when Buggie decidedly jumped down from Edward's lap and trotted off that Winry let out another sigh.

"You know, Ed… I used to think you were strong enough to handle the life you chose."

"Win- what's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

She dropped her screwdriver and looked him in the eye.

"I didn't mean it like that, okay? It's just… I thought you knew what you were getting yourself into. It's not just going on missions that puts you two in danger. Sometimes the danger comes to you. And you're acting like you didn't even see this coming."

Edward's scowl melted into a more sombre expression. He lowered his gaze to the floorboards. The sound of Alphonse's helmet clicking broke the next few seconds of silence.

"Winry… we did see this coming," he said. "Brother might not act like it, but he knows what he's signed up for. And that's why he counts on _you_ to build his automail. You're the best and _only_ person we can turn to for this. You know what he has to go through and what he needs to get through it."

This time it was her turn to drop her gaze to the floor.

"Yeah… Yeah, I guess you're right, Al."

Then she looked up at Edward.

"You breaking my automail is unavoidable. So I guess I'll just have to make it stronger."

Instead of responding, Edward stared off into space. His eyebrows were crinkled in what looked like slight worry.

"Ed…?"

Alphonse turned to his brother. After another moment of unresponsiveness, he sat up.

"Brother? What's wrong?"

"You're right, Al," he finally said. "I _do_ know what I've signed up for. But Fiona doesn't."

Alphonse tilted his helmet. "What do you mean?"

Edward shook his head.

"You didn't see her during that fight, Al. She literally cowered under the stairs. And when the guy had her pinned up by her throat, she basically shut down. Fiona didn't expect this when she joined the State Alchemist program. She had _no clue_ how to defend herself."

o.O.0.O.o

Alphonse carefully watched Fiona's expression shift from one emotion to the next. Pure, eye-widening shock melted into fear and uncertainty. Then a brief moment of what looked like disappointment, only to turn into solemn acceptance. Finally, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I-I understand," she croaked.

Louis, who was sitting on the sofa next to her, nodded. "I think it's a good idea. If that lunatic comes back, I want you to be prepared. I'm not always going to be there to save you."

Seeing this scene play out, Alphonse felt angry. Mostly at himself, but also at the sheer irony of it all. Louis had basically told him how much of a shining grace Fiona could be for him and his brother. And then fate threatened to snatch her away too, just like it had with so many other things. It felt like losing their mother all over again.

"Come to think of it," Edward began thoughtfully, "it's like equivalent exchange. You teach me bio-alchemy, and I teach you combat."

At that notion, the tension in Fiona's shoulders loosened. "Yeah… I suppose you're right."

After a few seconds of silence, she straightened. "But, I hope you know there's no way I can use my alchemy for combat. Will I have to make up for that somehow?"

Edward tilted his head. "Yes. In addition to hand-to-hand and weapon training, you may need to pick up another discipline of alchemy. Just like with Scar, there will be more opponents who use their alchemy to their advantage. That includes me."

Her gaze flicked to the floor and she nodded absently. Then suddenly Louis snapped his fingers.

"I know! I can teach you _my_ alchemy!"

Edward blinked. "You- you're an alchemist?"

The blond man grinned and sat up a little straighter. "Sure am! Well… maybe it's not exactly what you Amestrians call 'alchemy.' But it works."

Alphonse held back the urge to burst his bubble. From what he'd seen of Louis's alchemy, he wasn't so sure the skills would be all that helpful in combat. Powering gondolas and making small earthquakes wouldn't win a fight against Scar. Heck, it didn't win the fight against the Cobra gang. They still technically won, because if Alphonse had a body, he would've been shot.

He was just about to suggest Fiona simply pick up _their_ alchemy, but Fiona herself beat him to it.

"No offence, honey," she said, "but I don't think your alchemy is conducive for fighting. Besides, I think I have a better idea."

The bio-alchemist then turned to her student and looked him in the eye. "Ed, I've watched you spar with your brother in the backyard. Your alchemy is amazing, and it's perfect for my situation. I'd like to learn _your_ alchemy, if you don't mind."

Edward was silent and expressionless for a few moments. Alphonse knew he was weighing the pros and cons, considering what their teacher might do to them if she found out what they were up to. At some point however, Edward must've decided it was worth her wrath. He cleared his throat and met her gaze again.

"One form of alchemy for another," he told her. "_That's_ equivalent exchange. I'll teach you mine, and you'll teach me yours. My alchemy and combat technique go hand-in-hand anyway. I think that's a perfect idea."

A big smile stretched across Fiona's face. She appeared excited. Alphonse knew that smile wouldn't last long, though. If Edward planned on teaching her their alchemy the way they learned it, she was in for a rough ride. He held back a chuckle at the thought.

"So what am I here? Chopped liver?" Louis whined.

Fiona opened her mouth, but Louis's laugh cut her off.

"I'm kidding," he assured her. "I think this is the right decision. Like always, you have my full support."

The two embraced one another, and, rolling his eyes, Edward stood to make his leave. Then suddenly the stairs creaked under the weight of semi-hasty footsteps. A red-faced Winry appeared a moment later.

"Ed! You have to come see this! Your leg is done, and you won't believe what I did to it!"

Within moments, Edward, Winry, and surprisingly Louis (who wanted to see an updated model up close) were gone, leaving him and Fiona alone.

The woman smiled and shook her head. "Gear-heads. Am I right?"

"Yeah," he said, letting out a half-hearted chuckle.

After that, silence fell between them. Fiona busied herself with organizing her ever-growing pile of books and papers on the coffee table. Meanwhile, Alphonse walked over to the cages and began filling the feeders for the night.

Alphonse had a million questions for Fiona, but one stood far above the rest: could she really get him out of his armor? He desperately wanted to come right out and ask her. They were alone, without any chance of his brother hearing her response. Despite how twisted and counterproductive it was, Alphonse really just wanted to hear it for himself first.

That and he didn't want Ed to hear how she would do it, in case she decided to elaborate. Alphonse was afraid his brother would back out if the methods weren't morally perfect. Of course, he wanted to go about things the lawful and sound way, but he knew the world would never allow that. There would always be drawbacks to every solution. Especially _his_ solution.

For once, he wanted to make a decision for himself. As much as Edward liked to share the burden, it was ultimately Alphonse's problem.

And yet, on the other hand, Alphonse wasn't sure if Fiona herself was ready to delve into such a conversation. As open and truthful as she was, Alphonse was sure she had a couple of sensitive topics. Groundbreaking advancements in alchemy always came with a steep price. Like his brother's clap-transmutation, Fiona's techniques were most likely tied to a difficult and painful past.

Despite the golden opportunity the universe was presenting to him, Alphonse decided to stew on his question a little longer.

o.O.0.O.o

Later that evening, after Winry was well on her way back to Resembool, the two brothers were lounging in Edward's bedroom. It was something they'd made a habit of doing every night since they first arrived at the estate. It was then they felt they could open up and talk about sensitive topics without fear of being overheard. Well, except by George on this particular occasion, but Alphonse doubted the canine would understand their conversation, much less communicate it back to other residents. The fluffy Amestrian Sheppard sprawled out, taking up approximately half the bed as Edward went on about his new and improved automail.

"... and it turned out May had connections with someone who deals in rare ore. She called in a favor and he gave her enough to cover the outer plating… "

For once, Edward sounded excited about his automail. He had a small smile on his lips as he explained how titanium worked on a molecular level, as if Alphonse didn't already know (he did, of course).

Over the last few weeks, Alphonse noticed a subtle change in his brother. Their topics of conversation, which were largely decided by Edward, slowly shifted from the usual serious problem-solving to those of a more domestic nature. Additionally, as he grew used to his surroundings and the people he talked with, the ever-present tension the teen held himself with was fading. He looked more relaxed and at ease than he had in years. He even continued to wear Louis's borrowed clothes even though the humidity had dialed down. Finally, that morning, he overheard Edward talking with Fiona. From where he caught the conversation, it sounded like his brother was considering getting a haircut.

Although Alphonse thought his brother looked best with long hair, he was glad to see he was startling to lose a little bit of his stubbornness. Even a simple cosmetic decision was a step in the right direction. The path to finally letting go of their horrible mistake and moving on.

Alphonse had walked into Edward's room with the intent to bring up something that had been pressing on his mind since their arrival. But now he saw that it wasn't nearly as important as he thought. And come to think of it, Edward probably already knew and shared the same opinion. The armor decided from then on he would keep such thoughts to himself.

He would much rather deal with issues on his own than see his brother backslide.


	9. Chapter 9

House of Echidna Ch. 9

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

It wasn't until Edward's volley of earthen pillars sent Fiona crashing through her nice white fence that he finally saw it. Through the cloud of dirt, he watched her silhouette brush the boards off and rise again. When she emerged back into clear visibility, her eyes were elite with Edward's secret goal: a telling glint of fire. A smirk of satisfaction slithered across his lips as she sent a shock-wave rippling through the ground towards him. For once, her advance was too quick for him, and before he knew it he was on his back in the neighbor's yard. He wanted to congratulate her, but the wind had been effectively knocked out of him.

Buggie, who had been spectating from the porch along with the other residents of the house, was by his side in a matter of seconds. She scurried about his fallen form, yowling distressed meow-screeches, until he audibly filled his lungs and coughed.

A few moments later, Louis had helped him up and was leading him back into the yard.

The man whistled. "That was some move, honey!"

"Very good, Fiona!" Victor added.

Alphonse lowered his novel and shouted, "Great job, miss Kuhn!"

Finally, George barked in agreement.

Their praise was met with the woman's deep blush. Then she faced Edward, an unspoken question on her lips. Once Louis seated him on the stairs, he looked up and met her gaze with a grin.

"You pass!"

Fiona pumped her fist in the air. "YES!"

The other people gathered on the back deck clapped, and George barked at the excitement. Edward settled for a smile. After all, he didn't want to disturb his injuries even further than Fiona may have. His last wreck-it-ball meet with the Banner twins left his shoulder in questionable condition as it was.

It had been two months since their arrival, all in all. And so much about Edward's life had changed. Never in a million years did he imagine himself where he was now. He lived in one place (a house even), in a normal city, filled with normal people. (Although more out of necessity than personal preference,) he wore normal clothes and a normal haircut. He even had normal-ish friends, and lived a normal-ish life day in and day out. Even the not-so-normal parts were perfectly acceptable for him.

His alchemy lessons with Fiona were going great, and both of them were making quick work of it. Edward had advanced past the respiratory and circulatory systems, and was more than half way through the digestive system. Fiona had just passed the alchemical portion of her first evaluation. And although Edward decided against using his former teacher's arguably barbaric methods, the woman had progressed quickly enough.

Overall, Edward should've been happy.

The teen glanced up at the sky. It offered a stunning display at that moment: the warmer colors of the spectrum bled together in a luminescent rainbow. Besides the visual aspect of it, Edward could've sworn he _felt_ this one. The damp breeze carried the scent of decaying leaves, and the taste of clay. The intoxicating warmth from the direct sunlight seeped all the way into his bones, reminding him of days long since passed in his hometown. Finally, the wind itself sang. The chime hanging from the neighbor's back porch produced a bittersweet melody, as one of the metal sounding tubes was missing. Almost like the others were mourning its absence.

And Edward mourned an absence.

The blond looked back at his brother, who was engaged in conversation with the others on the deck. Although he tried not to show it, Edward felt so, incredibly guilty. He was so close to an answer, he could practically taste it, yet he was forced to wait. And every day that passed without finding the answer was another day Alphonse couldn't feel the amazing Casier sunsets.

The Colonel was a smart man. That was fact, as much as Edward would never admit it. The smirking bastard had undoubtedly seen the answer already, and could've easily conveyed it to them himself without further pussy-footing. But he assigned him a full apprenticeship. For whatever reason, the Colonel wanted him to have a deeper understanding of the solution.

So with that in mind, he decided not to rush things. He knew the solution needed to reveal itself naturally. Even so, that didn't make him feel any better about leaving Alphonse in that armor. He felt even worse knowing he could simply pull Fiona aside and demand the answer. But that would make him no better than the other dogs of the military. He needed to do this the right way.

Suddenly the back doorwall slung open. It nearly bounced off the tracks as a flushed-faced May flew onto the deck. After catching her breath, she looked up at Fiona.

"We have an emergency patient!"

Fiona stood. "Which animals?"

"A bear and a cow," she wheezed. "We can't even get it through the front doors!"

An expression of horror took over the woman's face. "Right. Go turn on the hose and fill the pond. Alphonse, I need you to run all of my alchemy supplies from the basement to the front yard. The boxes, the jugs, the jars, everything! Victor, heard all of the other chimeras back here. Ed and Louis, come with me."

By the time his brain processed what was happening, everyone had dispersed into their tasks and Fiona was leading them up the stairs to the West tower. Once there, she riffled through her various stacks of papers and pulled out array after array. When Louis started poking through the icebox Edward hadn't seen until then, the situation hit him like a ton of bricks.

"So we're going to save that chimera _right now_?"

o.O.0.O.o

Edward stared at Fiona in astonishment. Although she had just given him a hasty crash-course in her chimera bio-alchemy methods, he shriveled under her expectant gaze. There in the front yard, for everyone to see, he was expected to commit the very same act that landed his brother in that armor once again. Despite the animals' various mutilated cries, and the rest of the estate occupants rushing around with a sense of great urgency, Edward felt as if time had ground to a halt.

"Y-You- you want me to _what_?!"

The woman glanced up at the cow's owner, who stood by the front gates as she watched the proceedings from afar. Then Fiona looked him in the eye and set her hand on his shoulder.

"Ed, these animals are going to die if we don't separate them in the next _ten_ _minutes_. I need you to shove all of your reactions aside and trust me until this is done. Can you do that?"

"I-I…" he stuttered. He closed his mouth and looked away. Then his gaze fell to the chimera.

He nearly leapt out of his skin as, for a sliver of a moment, all he saw was a girl and her dog. He lurched back, but by the time he'd blinked the image was gone.

"_If only I could've _done_ something."_

While Edward shared the exact same feelings, the Colonel was the one who had actually said it. For a brief moment in time, the two had shared a deep yearning for something: the ability to save chimeras like Nina.

Now, after all this time, he could. He could do something to save these two animals in front of him. And all Fiona was asking of him was the body of a bear.

It was then Edward realized Mustang's true intent behind the full apprenticeship. The man not only wanted to alleviate their personal problems, but he also wanted Edward to become a better alchemist. He wanted him to be capable of preventing disasters, but also capable of fixing things should he fail the first time around.

Edward took a deep breath and met Fiona's gaze again. "… yeah."

"Good," she said, relief loosening her expression.

With his initial resistance nullified, the procedure went quickly. On Fiona's signal, he and Louis started fabricating the bodies of the animals. As it turned out, the freezer Louis was poking through in the West tower contained samples of DNA. The sample Edward held in his hand now came from a brown bear that lived at Casier's local zoo. He watched Louis and did his best to follow along: first placing the sample in its respective "empty box," then setting his hands on the circle's edge.

After that, the runes seemed to take care of everything themselves. Before his eyes, new runes appeared in the blank spots as the circle worked to complete itself. As it did this, the information it was fetching flitted through his mind. Although it was nowhere near the magnitude of the Gate, it was still unsettling.

Finally, the circle began siphoning his energy. Then suddenly fear zipped through his gut. It felt almost identical to that god forsaken array he and his brother had foolishly drawn all those years ago. It pulled the power of the earth through him as though he were an oil drill. He tried to wretch his hands away, but he knew how alchemy circles worked: it would only release him once the task was done. He closed his eyes, expecting to see the white oblivion.

Then everything stopped. The circle released him, and he fell back onto his rump. When he opened his eyes again, he was greeted with the sight of a bear's body.

Before he could even move or speak, Fiona set to work shaving a section of its back for the seal tattoo. The teen looked up at his brother, who was standing a few meters away. His red glowing orbs seemed to ask: _Did you see it?_

An almost hysterical laugh escaped him as he shook his head.

He watched while Fiona finished the job. She told him before the procedure what would go down, and, true to her word, she'd transferred the animals' souls to separate pieces of paper while he and Louis were busy making the bodies. After she finished tattooing the bear, she wasted no time in transferring one of the souls to it. Finally, once both souls were sealed to their respective bodies, she gave each of them an electric shock.

Fiona collapsed as the animals rose. After wobbling around on uncertain paws for a few minutes, the bear followed May's gentle hands to the backyard. Louis stood just as the cow's owner came running at him.

After nearly tackling him with a hug, she gushed, "Oh, thank you soooo much! I thought my best show girl was done for! But she's perfect!" Her words possessed a slight accent of some kind. Drachman maybe?

Louis opened his mouth to say something, but then she looked down at Fiona, who still hadn't moved, and frowned.

"Is she going to be alright?"

"Absolutely," he assured her. "She'll just be out cold for a week."

At that, Edward's eyes flew open. "A _week_?!"

"Oh my!" the farmer squeaked. "The poor girl. I do hope she feels better when she wakes up. She's saved my farm, after all!"

A few more minutes of conversing passed until the woman and her cow took their leave. After they were out of sight, Edward wheeled on Louis.

"A _week_?" he repeated. "Why a week?!"

The blond man sighed and hoisted his fiance onto his shoulder. "She transferred _two_ souls _twice_. Not to mention they were the souls of large animals. I wouldn't be surprised if she actually takes _more_ than a week to wake up."

With that, the man took Fiona back into the house, leaving Edward and Alphonse alone.

Suddenly, the front yard became eerie and uncomfortably quiet. The sun had disappeared entirely, leaving only the dim walkway lights to illuminate the space. Their own shadows coupled with that of the alchemy supplies and the dead chimera body elongated into a stomach-churning array of shapes. Edward looked away and cleared his throat.

Before he could say anything however, Alphonse's metallic voice echoed creepily off the mansion's bricks.

"So… this is what the Colonel meant by… a temporary solution."

"Yeah… I guess so."

"To make just the body. It bypasses the Gate… because the soul you need is already here."

Edward was silent as he mulled this over. Then Alphonse's helmet clicked.

"Brother… don't you realize how _genius_ this is?! No wonder they let Fiona into the State Alchemist program! Can you imagine what-"

"Alphonse-"

"-people could do with this technique? I mean, it could-"

"Alphonse-"

"-bypass the need to cure cancer! It could-"

"ALPHONSE!"

"WHAT?!"

Edward's gaze swept the yard. "Keep your trap shut, will ya?! We're _outside_ where people can _hear_ us."

If armor could blush, Alphonse's would've right then. "…oh. Right."

o.O.0.O.o

When his teacher's eyes fluttered open a week and a half later, it was all Edward could do to avoid bombarding her with questions. As the woman levered herself upright, he shared a look with his little brother. After a small nod, the armor stood and walked over to the open doorway.

"GUYS! FIONA'S AWAKE!" he shouted.

Louis made it into the room first, followed closely by May, Victor, and George.

"Look who's back in the land of the living!" Louis quipped, already sitting by her side on the bed. "Did you tell my grand-pappy I said hello?"

She gave him a weak, semi-playful slap on the wrist and quirked a small smile. A smile that quickly fled as an excited George jumped onto the bed to give her a tongue-bath.

While the other residents were busy catching Fiona up on the happenings of the household, Edward reflected on what he and Alphonse had agreed upon.

The night they saved the chimera, Alphonse came clean about his various observations since they arrived. Most notably, the fact that Louis knew what was under his armor (and apparently some other guy named Mole). Besides being a little pissed that his brother was keeping things from him, Edward was frustrated with learning their secret wasn't so secret anymore. And while he trusted Louis to some degree, this Mole guy was a different story.

Besides the trust issue, the conversation brought up another alarming notion: Louis _told_ Alphonse Fiona could get him out of the armor. Whether or not this implied she would be _willing_ to do so was unclear. And so the next day, they decidedly approached the blond man and asked for clarification.

_Louis glanced around the shop before leading them into the back room. After locking the door behind them, he turned around to face them. _

"_This is hardly a good time to ask that, you know," he said. "Especially right in front of some of my… shadier clients. This couldn't wait until I came home?" _

_Edward crossed his arms and scowled. "No, it couldn't."_

"_We're sorry about the bad timing," Alphonse said, "but this is sort of important to us." _

_Louis tilted his head in thought for a moment. Then he sighed. "I suppose it should be. Well, in my opinion, I think she'll agree at first, but then chicken out later." _

_Edward frowned. "Chicken out?"_

"_Believe it or not, she's tried it before. But… when it came time to actually do it, she couldn't. If you want her help, you'll have to do some serious convincing to see it through to the end." _

As it was, the brothers had made up their minds about giving it a shot. The Colonel sent them all that way, and Edward didn't want to leave empty-handed. Continuing their search with Alphonse in a living, breathing body would take immense pressure off his shoulders, and dial down the urgency of their mission ten-fold. Not to mention it would relieve nearly all of their grief. Most of Edward's guilt stemmed from the fact that his brother suffered in that unfeeling prison. While their horrific mistake weighed on him, the outcome was ultimately what ate at him.

When the others had left the room, Louis gave them a quick wink before taking his own leave. The door shut behind him, and the brothers were alone with a groggy half-awake Fiona.

Edward opened his mouth to begin, but Fiona stopped him in his tracks. The woman's gaze fell to the floor for a moment, and then she sighed.

"Ed, I know what you're going to ask."

The brothers shared a look, then Alphonse's helmet clicked as he looked back at the woman. Uncertainty laced itself into his voice as he said,

"Y-You do?"

"Yes. I'm not dense. I knew what was wrong with you the moment we met, Al."

A shadow of a scowl took over Ed's face. "If you knew, then why didn't you say anything? Or turn us in?"

She glanced out the window, avoiding his gaze. "Because turning you in would be to turn myself in."

The armor straightened. "What- what do you mean by that?"

Before she could respond, an explosion rocked the house.


	10. Chapter 10

House of Echidna Ch. 10

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Fullmetal Alchemist. **

o.O.0.O.o

When they arrived in the central atrium and looked down over the railings, the three of them were met with a yet another horrible sight: the rest of the estate occupants, including some of the larger chimeras from downstairs, were strewn across the floor. Edward couldn't tell if they were all dead or unconscious, but he wasn't given enough time to find out. The foyer was practically crawling with people in black uniforms. Almost all of them wore white scarves and sashes, except one guy who wore red. The feather on his hat told Edward they were dealing with Drachman army men, and their general tagged along with them. The general caught sight of them first, and a string of foreign language sputtered out of his mouth.

Suddenly, all of their collective guns were trained on them. The fight was over before it even began.

The general spat another string of words, but in their direction this time. A soldier standing next to him translated: "Take us to the lab or die where you stand!"

Edward met Fiona's gaze, and after a silent exchange, the woman nodded. Then, to Edward's utter surprise, Fiona shouted back to them in what he assumed was Drachman. Some of the soldiers lowered their weapons, but the general merely narrowed his eyes and kept his weapon trained on them. He shouted something back, and Fiona slowly put her hands up and began descending the stairs. After receiving a curt head-jerk from her, Edward and Alphonse followed suit.

A nerve-wracking minute later, they were corralled in the corner of the basement while the soldiers ran-sacked Fiona's alchemy tables. After a while of this, the general turned to her with a sneer. He then said something in a very harsh tone and gestured towards the stack of papers they removed from the tack boards. Edward discerned that the general was finding out Fiona kept her written materials elsewhere, and he wasn't pleased.

Then, before the situation could escalate any further, Fiona quickly turned to the brothers and gave them a wink. It was the signal.

With all of the other chimeras outside in the backyard, completely ignorant to the circumstances, the three of them had no qualms with tearing the floor apart. Quicker than the soldier's guns, spires of rock erupted from the floorboards. In no time, most of the soldiers were either pegged to the ceiling, pinned to the floor, or simply knocked unconscious.

The general, of course, had managed to evade it all. As soon as he raised his gun, Alphonse's iron gauntlet smacked it out of his hand. The armor was about to make a grab for the man's hand, but the next thing they saw had them all grinding to a horrified halt.

The general clapped his hands and slammed his palms against the glass of the lobster tank. Upon his command, the water spilled onto the floor and surrounded their feet. Half a second later, All three of them were effectively frozen to the mangled floorboards.

"Y-You!" Edward stuttered in surprise. "You committed the taboo!"

The general smirked as he stood, but said nothing in reply. Then he turned to Fiona and grinned.

Fiona began yet another foreign exchange with the man. The conversation seemed to become louder and angrier until finally the general picked his gun up again and pressed the muzzle against her temple. A long pause with thick tension in the air ensued. Then just as she opened her mouth (probably to tell the general where her alchemy texts were), a new voice cut her off.

"Fiona, stop!" it cried from the stairwell.

From the sound of it, Edward expected to see Louis standing at the bottom of the stairs. But when he looked over, all he saw was George. The Amestrian Sheppard was shaking, his ear appeared to be ripped open and bleeding, and he held up one of his front paws. Although he didn't look very threatening, Edward could swear that animal wore an expression of determination.

_Did… did that dog just talk?_

Once the general caught sight of George, he let out a hearty laugh. He said something in Drachman and turned back to Fiona. But before any more words could come out of his mouth, George sprung forward. The general observed no warning before the dog's jaws latched onto his neck. The general dropped his gun as George alligator-spun him to the floor.

George let go of the general's neck just long enough to (sure enough) shout, "Get out of here! All of you!"

Fiona was the first to snap out of it. Literally and figuratively. Seconds later the ice encasing her legs burst apart. She yelled in Amestrian, "Ed, Al! Ice is a mineral, use your alchemy!"

She didn't give them a chance to reply, as she then sprinted for the general's gun. By the time the brothers escaped their ice, Fiona deconstructed the metal weapon and encased the general in spires of stone.

o.O.0.O.o

An hour later, things had settled back into normalcy… somewhat. Louis, Victor, and May were only mildly injured and awoke shortly after Edward and Alphonse finished dragging the foreigners to the front yard. Tied up tight and trapped in a cage of stone, they wouldn't be going anywhere until the Colonel and his team came to pick them up the following day. As for Fiona, she collapsed as soon as the fight in the basement was over. George explained that Fiona's soul-sealing alchemy was extremely taxing, and the effects lingered even beyond her return from the coma.

Edward still couldn't believe that George could talk. And yet, since the fight, that's all the dog seemed to do. Novel as it was (Alphonse thought it was fantastic), Edward knew something so bizarre came with a steep price. Shou Tucker spent the better years of his life devoted to creating a talking chimera. And while George was hardly a chimera anymore, he now knew that at some point Fiona must've synthesized his body. It was only a question of what soul she used. Edward had a sinking feeling she'd used the soul of a man to get that result. But why?

Then he remembered: _"Believe it or not, she's tried it before. But… when it came time to actually do it, she couldn't."_

Suddenly it all made sense to him. George must've been a man that Fiona intended to save, but in the end she couldn't make herself synthesize a human body.

In other words, it sounded like Al's temporary solution had never been attempted before.

Edward sighed, decidedly pushing the thoughts out of his mind for the time being. He'd been left to clean up the basement while Alphonse treated the other estate occupants' injuries upstairs. Edward wasn't alone; Fiona slept on one of the nearby couches, but his mind ran rampant as if he was. So he focused on his task. 

Minutes bled into a half an hour before he was nearly finished. All he had left was the hole in the wall to the left of Fiona's tables and he'd be home free. He walked up to it and prepared for a clap, but a quick glimpse of what was inside stopped him in his tracks.

Edward gasped.

There was a whole other room in there, filled with what appeared to be yet another grouping of alchemy tables. They were laden with the same kinds of things as Fiona's, only everything was caked in dust and clearly unused since the wall had been closed off. A rusty metal chair was overturned underneath a broken window, which generously lit up the space. All these observations were trickling into the back of his mind as he stared at the thing that made him gasp: the transmutation circle on the floor.

It was huge and elaborate, the symbols that filled its various slots were all too familiar, and, worst of all, what probably used to be a large pool of blood stained the floor in the middle of it. There was no doubt about it.

It was a human transmutation circle.

Without another thought, the teen whipped around and marched over to Fiona. Grabbing her by the arm, he lifted her off the couch and dragged her over to the hole in the wall. By the time they'd arrived, Fiona had awoken with a shriek.

"E-Ed?! W-What's going o-"

"What the _hell_ is that?! What _is_ that, Fiona?!"

Confused horror filled her wide eyes until she glanced up where he was pointing. Then an overwhelming expression of guilt and shame took over her face. When she didn't say anything right away, Edward sneered.

"_Well?_"

"I- It's exactly what it looks like, Ed… I-I don't know what to tell you."

He dropped her arm and she stumbled onto the floor. "What happened?"

The woman opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Then, surprisingly, she looked up at him with a sneer of her own.

"You know what… you have no room to talk." she stated, rising from her place on the floor. "I could ask _you_ the exact same thing."

Edward growled. "Fine. My brother and I tried to bring our dead mother back to life. It failed. I lost my leg, and Alphonse lost his body. I bartered my arm for his soul and sealed it to a suit of armor. End of story. Your turn."

Her jaw dropped. A tear streamed out of her eye before she closed her mouth and fixed her gaze to the floor.

"It was my grandfather's circle," she began. "He tried to bring back his wife… and it failed. He devoted his life to finding the answer. He never found it, because there _is_ no answer, but he _did_ pioneer our bio-alchemy. My father perfected and used the techniques to save me when I became a chimera. He… erased the rune for soul and used that same circle."

Edward's shoulders dropped and he looked away for a moment, his scowl completely gone. A moment of silence passed between them until he said,

"Your body… it's synthetic. You're like George?"

Her eyes flashed with another wave of guilt. "Yes. Just like George."

"... so it's been done before."

"... yes."

After a few moments of silence, Edward sighed and looked her in the eye.

"I'm sorry-"

"No," she cut him off. "_I'm_ sorry you had to see that. And you had every right to react the way you did. Every alchemist does."

"And this is what you meant. By turning us in, you'd be turning yourself in."

She peeled off her coat and turned around to show him the blood seal tattooed to her lower back. "If anyone saw this seal, I'd be done for. I'd be considered a chimera by the government, and I'd lose my human rights."

Then she sighed. "… which is why I didn't want to bring George back as a human. No one suspects a dog… but a person? A human with that seal has to live just as carefully as I do."

That made a lot of sense to Edward. He understood perfectly what the government would do to Alphonse if they ever found him out. But he knew his brother, and he knew he would be none too pleased to walk the earth as any other animal but a human. Edward knew he would be fully willing to take that risk.

"I suppose you're right," he told her. "But that wouldn't be any different than how he is now. He would be better off in a living body for the time being."

Fiona smirked, catching on to the subject change. "Well… if you think he can handle _keeping a secret_, I'd be delighted to help."

Edward crossed his arms and smirked back. "Keeping secrets is our specialty."

Then, a genuine smile spread across her lips. "Right. Well, I'm too weak to do much of anything today. But tomorrow I should be good to go."

The blond teen couldn't help his toothy grin from then on. "Sounds good to me."

He clapped his hands and mended the hole in the wall. Then, giving Fiona one last grin, he began his hasty ascent up the stairwell.

They were _finally_ getting Alphonse out of that armor. After all those years of sleepless nights and missed meals, his sweet, innocent little brother was about to become human again. And although it wouldn't be his real body (the one Truth stole from him) Edward realized he didn't quite care anymore. Truth could keep it. All that mattered was Alphonse would get to live and breathe again.

As far as Edward was concerned, their search was over.

o.O.0.O.o

"Alright, Alphonse. You ready?"

The armor laid atop a sturdy metal table that Edward had fashioned himself earlier that morning. Fiona had made a point to clamp the armor's wrists and ankles to the table, explaining that some subjects tended to resist the initial soul transfer, most of the time physically. And although Edward didn't blame Fiona for taking the precaution, he noted that Alphonse looked a little sheepish at the idea of him needing to be restrained. It felt just as alien to Edward.

Nonetheless, Fiona did a well enough job preparing the area for the task. The table Alphonse laid on stood in the Northeast corner of the basement, with the armor's feet pointing West. To the right of that was a smaller wooden table that held the paper with the transfer seal on it, and a pen that would be used for tattooing the blood-seal. To the right of that even was yet another large metal table Edward created, only it was empty. Everything was clean and organized.

The basement itself was devoid of its usual mild chaos, as the chimeras had been ushered outside into the backyard. The room was empty, save for Fiona, Edward, Alphonse, and the chimeras in the tanks. Fiona told them it was better to not have an audience, lest the extra variables screw up her process somehow. Edward agreed, but in the way that he simply didn't want other people involved in this private affair.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Alphonse replied cheerfully.

Fiona let out a small chuckle. "Hold your horses you, two. I've got some things to go over before we get started."

Edward nodded. "Right."

"W-What things?" Alphonse asked, his voice a little shaky.

Fiona leaned against the middle table and crossed her arms.

"Well, for starters," Fiona began, "we need a DNA sample. Surely one of you carries some kind of object of sentiment. Even the smallest fragment you can find will work."

Edward's eyes widened, and his world ground to a halt. Despite all the things they discussed the night before, it never dawned on any of them that they'd need Alphonse's DNA. A sick feeling gripped his stomach. He felt like such an idiot.

"Um," Alphonse said, "we actually don't have anything like that. Any possessions of mine were destroyed in the fire."

Fiona tilted her head. "Alright. That's not a problem, I guess. We'll just use Ed's DNA then."

"Oh!" Alphonse exclaimed. "Yeah! That'll work! What do you say, Brother? We could be twins until we get my real body back!"

Edward blinked. Then a smile spread across his lips. "Yeah. That's perfect."

"You two are brothers," Fiona stated. "I'll bet you look alike anyway. In any case, that brings me to my next point: when the circle reads the DNA, it takes a lot more information than just the orders in the strands of protein. The circle can discern everything about the subject as it was at the time of separation. It will read and use _every_ detail to recreate the animal. In other words, it will make an _absolute_ carbon copy."

A frown slithered onto Edward's face. "Meaning-"

"Meaning the body made from your DNA will also be missing the same limbs," Fiona finished. "And any medical conditions you have will carry over."

Then she paused and bit her lower lip. "By the way, you have a loose screw inside your shoulder, just under your automail port. I… saw it the last time I checked you over."

Edward looked at his shoulder, feeling a little betrayed. "O-Okay… I guess I'll get that looked at. Anyway, I don't think missing a couple of limbs is going to be an issue. Right, Al?"

The armor's helmet creaked. "Right. I can use prosthetics for now. Then I can get automail."

Edward cringed inwardly. He wouldn't wish that surgery on anyone. But if his brother thought he could do it, then he wasn't about to stop him.

The two brothers shared a look of agreement. "We'll use my DNA," Edward stated firmly.

Fiona smiled. "Of course. Now, that just leaves the transfer. Ed, we'll have to do it together. I don't think my body can handle two consecutive comas. If you do one transfer and I do the other, then that halves the effort, and no one will have to fall into a coma."

"Sure. No problem," Edward said with a nod.

Fiona nodded back and placed a piece of paper on the empty metal table. Then she unceremoniously plucked a hair off Edward's head and placed it on the "empty slot" in the circle.

"Alright, Ed," Fiona said, a little excitement in her voice, "let's get this party started. You make the body, and I'll do the first transfer. You ready, Alphonse?"

"Ready!"

The two alchemists wasted no time and set to work. Edward's heart pounded against his chest, his nerves alight with adrenalin, as he set his fingers on the edge of the circle. Like magic, materials floated out of the open jugs, jars, boxes, and piles on the alchemy tables. They converged together on the table, and began forming the skeleton first. While watching this, horrible memories of his past flitted through his mind. But that was all. The circle didn't turn red, no black hands appeared, and no white oblivion took shape.

Before he knew it, golden hair was growing out of the scalp (and some unmentionable places) and the light faded as the circle released him. As Fiona had predicted, an absolute carbon copy of himself laid naked on the table.

Edward looked away, hiding a blush as he realized just how mangled and grotesque the flesh around his ports looked.

He didn't get much time to admire his handiwork anyway, because Fiona immediately pushed the body over some to tattoo the seal to the lower back. And just as quickly as she started, she finished. The next thing he knew, Fiona was giving him the nod to complete the last soul transfer.

The teen stepped up to the middle table and took a shaky deep breath. Then he set his shoulders and positioned himself as Fiona had. He set one hand on the transfer circle (he could feel the energy of Alphonse's soul, and it was getting a little antsy). Finally, Edward set his other hand on the body's seal, and the transfer circle took care of the rest.

Like lighting, Alphonse's soul zipped through Edward's body and deposited itself in the other seal. After a small flash of light, Edward was released from the transmutation. He retracted his hands and stepped away, feeling supremely drowsy, to watch the last task.

Fiona, looking just as exhausted, lowered the body flat on the table again and placed her palms on its chest. Without further ado, she sent and electric shock through the heart. Finally, she stepped away to observe.

It didn't move.

The fear that ravaged his nerves next was so strong it gave him a bout of vertigo. What had gone wrong?! Why wasn't he moving? Did Truth take him? Did his soul fail to bond to the seal?

Then, just as Edward choked down the oncoming vomit to speak, the body levered itself upright and _actually_ vomited. After a fit of coughing, it gasped for air and turned to him. Then it grinned.

"It worked, Brother!"

And just like that, the rest of the world melted into black, and Edward's vision tunneled. All he remembered after that was feeling an onslaught of lightheadedness before hitting the floorboards.


	11. Chapter 11

House of Echidna Ch. 11

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

**Author's Note: This is the last chapter I wrote before I stopped over a year ago. In that year, I not only stopped this story, but I stopped writing altogether. Beyond this point is where I've picked up, so be warned that the content won't look or sound the same going forward. I am **_**very**_** rusty at writing, so I apologize that my most recent prose sucks a little in comparison. **

**Also, I'm sorry I forgot to post this yesterday! Truly, I am! I had a lot going on and it completely slipped my mind. :(**

**Finally, I'm changing the posting schedule to once a week on Thursdays. So the next chapter will be posted next Thursday. I can't keep up with writing chapters every two to three days, so I'm hoping a week will be a sufficient amount of time. **

**That's all for now. Enjoy the chapter, late as it is. :)**

o.O.0.O.o

A few hours later, Edward woke up on one of the couches in the basement. Fiona was napping on the opposite couch, and Buggie had settled herself on his lap and purred. For a moment, he was lost to the world. He even stroked Buggie's back feathers out of habit as he observed the basement. It was once again filled with chimeras, and he could hear why: it was pouring outside. The atmosphere was so comfortable and peaceful that he contemplated going back to sleep.

Then Edward's memories crashed into him like a pile of bricks.

Buggie went flying as he stood to examine the basement with a little more mind. Immediately, his eyes fixed on the tables in the corner. The armor still laid bolted to the left table, but the right table was empty.

"ALPHONSE!?" he shouted.

When he got no response other than a small groan from Fiona, he shouted again.

"ALPHONSE, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"I'm here!" came a voice from the stairwell. But not just any voice. It was _his_ voice. As if _Edward_ said it.

Edward's gaze immediately met the odd sight: there Alphonse stood, at the bottom of the stairs, looking _exactly_ like him. An identical copy. Only he wore a different outfit, and normal prosthetics instead of automail.

A flood of relief overwhelmed him, and Edward felt a little woozy again as he grinned at his brother. Alphonse grinned back as he descended the rest of the stairs, Louis coming into view as he helped him down. Once he stood flat on the wooden floor, Edward couldn't contain himself any longer.

The teen sprinted across the basement and tackled his brother with a hug. The momentum knocked them all to the ground, including Louis, but Edward didn't care. He shamelessly smothered his brother with kisses until Alphonse nearly peed himself laughing.

Once the initial reunion was over, it was Alphonse's turn to tackle Edward with a hug. This time, it was tighter and lasted longer. Edward could feel him breathing steadily, in and out, and his heart pounding through his chest. The strength of his (admittedly built) arm and torso was less than half of the armor's, and the embrace no longer threatened to crush Edward's ribs. Best of all, he was _warm_. No more cold metal. It brought tears to his eyes.

Then Alphonse broke their hug and glanced over at Fiona, who was awake and watching them with a smile. "Thank you, Fiona. For _everything_."

She gave him a sleepy thumbs-up and fell back onto the couch. "Don't mention it."

A moment later she added, "No, really. I mean that. _Don't_ mention it."

Alphonse laughed. "Don't worry, I wont."

Suddenly May appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Fiona, Colonel Mustang just called. He said he's arriving with his squadron sometime this evening. Should I make any… er, preparations?"

Not even getting up to look at her, the alchemist waved her hand. "No, that's alright."

After May gave Fiona a questioning look, she retreated back up the stairs. For a few moments, the basement was filled with comfortable silence. Until another person came barreling down the stairs. A flush-faced Victor poked his head around the stairwell and grinned when he caught sight of Alphonse.

"You ready, Al?" he asked. "I'm all packed!"

Alphonse's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah! Hey, Ed, we're going slug hunting in the rain! You're coming with us, right?"

Edward couldn't help the mildly disgusted look on his face. "Slug… hunting? In the rain…?"

_What even… ?_

"Yes! Doesn't that sound like fun?"

After giving it some thought, Edward laughed.

"I guess."

Edward supposed anything that stimulated all five senses sounded like fun to Alphonse right then. Weird as it was, he didn't quite care either way. His brother could finally enjoy the world again, and by God he was going to let him.

o.O.0.O.o

Later that day, Alphonse stepped outside to check on the cage of Drachman soldiers. It had been created from the ground on which it stood, about where they fixed the chimera. The rain had finally let up enough for him to see inside. They looked angry, of course.

Alphonse didn't tell anyone this, but he was a bit concerned for the men. They were beaten to a pulp, shoved into a cage, and kept there for nearly two days. A cage, by the way, that sat outside and exposed to the elements. And, so far, only he and George had given them a second thought since.

As it was, George sat in front of the cage, passing with them what sounded like an intense conversation in Drachman. When Alphonse walked up, the general stopped talking and gave him a sneer.

The Amestrian Sheppard looked up at him. "Hello, Alphonse." Then he paused. "You _are_ Alphonse, right?"

The teen giggled. "Yes. What where you guys talking about?"

The dog turned back to the general and gave him the dog version of a scowl. A moment later, his expression softened, and he laid down with a huff.

"I was trying to get the general to talk." the dog said. "To tell me why they tried to take Fiona's research, and what they planned on using it for. But I've had no such luck."

Alphonse had nothing to say or add to that, so a comfortable silence drifted over them. After a while of this, a thought occurred to him. He glanced over at George and frowned. Something his brother said the night before nagged at him.

"Hey… George?"

"Hmm?"

"Were- were you once a human being?"

There was silence for a few seconds. Then the dog laughed. "That obvious, eh? Yes. I was a man once. But to tell you the truth, I prefer being a dog."

Alphonse's eyes widened. "Really? H-How come?"

"Well, for starters," he began, "I don't have to pay taxes anymore. Or take care of myself, really. No one expects much from me, as far as housework."

When he saw the look Alphonse was giving him, his joking tone and smile disappeared.

"But… what I _really_ like about being a dog is the anonymity."

Alphonse blinked.

The dog sighed. "I can't lie to you, Alphonse. I wasn't a good man. I was on the run for most of my life. Even when I finally settled down somewhere safe, and started a family with a wonderfully forgiving woman, my past still came back to bite me. And while becoming a chimera was a moronic lack of foresight on my part, I'm glad it happened. I got a fresh start out of it."

Alphonse could understand that. It was part of the reason he and Ed decided to join the military. They didn't want their crazy messed-up lives putting the Rockbells in danger.

"Well," Alphonse said, "I'm glad you stayed with Fiona. You may not have been a good man, but you _are_ a really good dog. Risking your life to save her like that? I'd say that wipes your pallet clean."

"Thanks," he said, wagging his tail a little. "That… means a lot."

"A-_HEM_."

Alphonse's gaze snapped up to see the Colonel and the Lieutenant standing over them. George whined and took off, disappearing into the backyard. The teen was on his feet in seconds.

"Uhhh- Colonel Mustang! Lieutenant Hawkeye! I-It's good to see you!"

The smirk on the man's face told him George hadn't gotten away in time. Nonetheless, Alphonse knew the Colonel would keep his lips sealed. He had for them all these years.

"It's been a while, Fullmetal," the man greeted. Then his eyes widened, as if he'd just realized something.

"Edward… what did you do to your hair?" Then he gave him a quick once-over. "…and where's your automail?!"

Before Alphonse could even open his mouth to respond, the front doors of the estate groaned open. Edward stepped out onto the porch and paused, looking at a piece of paper in his hand.

"Hey, Alphonse? Louis says we need-"

When the teen glanced up from the paper, his words died in his throat. Then he sized up the soldiers on the lawn and crossed his arms.

"Oh look," Edward began with a smirk, "the Colonel Bastard made it. Hello, Lieutenant Hawkeye."

"Edward?!" they exclaimed in unison.

o.O.0.O.o

Mustang eyed the boys as he sipped his admittedly delicious coffee. They were all seated on the couches in the foyer, with nothing but the torches illuminating the space. The MPs he brought with them had already left with the fugitives, while he and Hawkeye had stayed behind to hear the full report.

Everything worked out just as he'd imagined it. The boy he saw sitting beside his youngest subordinate was his absolute carbon copy- missing limbs and all. Although the outcome wasn't the only factor -Mustang had spent enough days in Casier to shift some of the blame to the humidity- Edward held himself in such a way he'd never seen the likes of before. Instead of his usual cocky fake-relaxed posture, the teen genuinely sunk into the couch cushions, his legs uncrossed and his back curled forward a bit. His hair was short, much like it was when he'd first met the boy all those years ago, and he wore the uniform of Casier: tan cargo shorts and a white tee-shirt.

What's more, he looked comfortable. He didn't fidget or squirm in his seat, and his face was loose and full of interest as Fiona recounted the events that passed the day before.

"...so we, um, put them in a cage in the front yard."

Fiona made a sour face, as if she just realized how horrible that sounded. Personally, Mustang had no qualms about the way the Drachman soldiers had been treated. They gave their targets no respect as they gunned down the door and threatened to kill anyone who stood in their way. As far as he was concerned, they deserved their fate.

The alchemist lowered her head and sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ramble on like that."

"You don't need to apologize, Ms. Kuhn," Hawkeye assured her. "You're the victim here, not them."

"... Right."

Edward sat forward. "What I don't get is what they planned on doing with Fiona's research. I mean, I know it's valuable, and a lot can be done with her techniques, but what could the Drachman military have to gain from it?"

About a hundred different possibilities floated across Mustang's mind, and none of them good. Before he could suggest one, however, Alphonse pursed his lips and said,

"Maybe it isn't the technique they wanted." He met Fiona's eyes. "Ms. Kuhn, you use something called an analysis circle to look inside animals, right?"

A shadow crossed her face, but she nodded.

"That's right. The analysis circles are something my family has worked on for generations. I'm really close to fixing the last few bugs, so they're almost perfect."

Edward gave her a sideways glance at "bugs" but then he said,

"I'll bet they could use them to get intel somehow. Like an alchemical spy network."

"That's… not really how they work," Fiona muttered, frowning at the floorboards. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "But if I really wanted to, I could probably tweak them to have that functionality."

Alphonse shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah, but if that's the case, wouldn't they need you along with your research? They didn't try to kidnap you."

Mustang lanced his fingers together and rested his chin in them. "We don't know if that's not what they ultimately had in mind. As fortunate as it is, you took them down too early. I'm sure they won't break, either. No Drachman fugitives we've ever captured alive were ever dumb enough to give out sensitive information like that."

Silent until then, the Amestrian Sheppard known as George whined from his position on the rug. He lifted his head and flicked his tail, like he _really_ wanted to say something. For the first time since walking in on his and Alphonse's conversation in the front yard, he had Mustang's attention. The Colonel cleared his throat.

"George?" Mustang addressed him directly. The dog's gaze immediately snapped to his eyes. "Did you have something to add?"

Another whine, and the dog's head shrunk back a little. An uncomfortable silence floated around the room as everyone stared at him expectantly. After meeting a few other pairs of eyes in the room, George muttered,

"I… just wanted to say… I think I know what they were after."

Mustang had heard the dog's voice on the front lawn about an hour before. That was outside among many other noises, like traffic, birds, and the growls of the unhappy Drachman captives. Here in the living room, with only the dull sound of a ticking grandfather clock and everyone's collective breathing to distract his eardrums, he could actually hear its texture, tone, and other subtle nuances. The man had to stop himself from physically reeling at the sound of it.

Suddenly Mustang was back in his commander's tent, about ten years in the past.

_He stood in front of the splintered desk, getting his hair blow-dried with reprimands after his return from a less-than-stellar mission. A burst of blazing hot air floated in through the tears in the sides of the canvas, and he had to hold back the urge to cough as the man went on and on about poor judgement and recklessness, and how it would get Mustang and his squad killed one day. _

_Finally, the man sat back to take a breath before delivering his actual punishment, when the flap that served as the door was ripped open. Mustang hacked as dry desert wind flooded his lungs. Two men entered the tent. The first he recognized as one of his fellow alchemists, a leathery old man with big muscles and an even bigger temper. The second was a man he'd never seen before. Mustang's cohort-in-arms dragged him in by the ropes firmly tied around his wrists. For all intents and purposes, he looked Drachman: black hair, pale skin, and a burly build. The man was young, maybe early or mid twenties. Mustang's cohort, Koffmen, shoved him forward so hard he fell face-down at the commander's feet._

"_Found this little rat sneaking around our outposts," Koffmen spat. "What should we do with him, sir?"_

_When the commander stood, fear filled the captive's eyes. Mustang snorted, as he remembered feeling absolutely terrified when he first saw General Sartel at his full, glorified height. He was built like a tank: arms the size of tree trunks, a jaw that could probably chomp through cable, and no visible distinction between his shoulders and neck. He towered over every other man Mustang knew, including Louise Armstrong, at a solid 6'4. If all that wasn't enough, the General also had this wicked gleam in his eyes, like if you crossed him one time too many he'd gut you with his bare hands and display your entrails over his door as a warning to others. _

_In other words, Koffmen the elderly meat-head looked about as threatening as a pixie in comparison._

_General Sartel folded his hands behind his back and glanced down at the young man, who looked like he was about to soil himself. "The outposts, eh? What do we do with spies, Major?"_

_The captive's breath hitched at the word "spy" and his mouth opened, but before he could speak, Mustang stiffened. _

"_We hand them over to the intelligence branch… sir."_

"_You misunderstand!" the captive blurted in broken Amestrian. "I do not spy. Just passing through. I can prove it! I have train tickets!"_

_The voice gave Mustang a start, as he didn't quite expect that high of a pitch from such a husky man. It was wiry and thin, but also a little rough, like he had sand in his throat. He probably did, considering where they were._

_The General turned away, ignoring the man's outburst, and addressed Koffmen. "What did you find in his possession? Anything indicative?"_

_Koffmen adjusted the bag slung over his shoulder and pulled out a wallet. "Just some centz, a couple of train tickets heading West, and an ID badge. The name is Ivan Sobakin, and it's issued from the Northern Province Office."_

"_Take him to Commander Weber," the General ordered impatiently. "As for you, Major Mustang, I have scarcely begun going over the consequences of your actions. Shall we continue?"_

_As he watched Koffmen drag the young man back out of the tent, he swallowed a lump in his throat and bit back some less-than-respectful comments. _

"_Yes, sir."_

Mustang couldn't stop himself before he said, "Ivan?"

George's ears perked up and the rest of his face slackened. A gob-smacked expression ruled his face for about three whole seconds before he tilted his ears back and lowered his head. Mustang swore he saw fear in his eyes.

The dog, it seemed, wasn't the only one who recognized that name.

Fiona sat forward. "_Ivan_? What does my father have to do with anything?"

Almost five seconds of silence passed before Edward spoke up. "Your father helped make those circles, right? Maybe they were after _his_ research. Is that what you meant, Colonel?"

Suddenly all eyes were on him. Except for George, who was just trying not to look noticeable.

Mustang blinked after a moment. "Uh… yeah. Yes, that's what I meant."

The dog wouldn't meet his gaze after that, and the Colonel knew he'd found the man he'd met in that tent all those years ago.


	12. Chapter 12

House of Echidna Ch. 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

Edward didn't even see it coming. One minute he was hunched over, breathing hard and staring at the grimy cobblestone street through hazy vision, the next a ball slammed into his chest with the speed and force of a plow truck. He hit the bricks with an audible _clang_. He could only let out a short hiss before a hand yanked him back up, snapping more bolts apart inside his arm undoubtedly.

"Stay focused, Ed!" a voice said, sounding distant and echo-y. "We've almost won!"

They didn't win. Not even close. The other team's field runner got a lucky slug on one of their gatekeepers and it was all over. Not two, not three, but _four_ balls whizzed past their goal posts. As soon as the crow blew the whistle, Edward sank to his knees.

After all the noise died down, Otto's was the first voice of concern. "Ed? You alright over there?"

The teen wanted to respond. He wanted to tell them he was fine. He wanted to blow the whole thing off like he'd been doing the last few meets. But this time he couldn't. All he could do was pant as he waited for the pain to fade.

He could hear everyone's feet shuffle around him, and finally a gentler hand came to rest on his flesh shoulder.

"Dude, you need to call your mechanic."

Edward looked up to find Ernst's grim expression. Steel grey eyes met his gold immediately. Edward would've needed to be downright blind to miss the sincerity in them.

"I know," was all he could manage in response.

Over the last month, since the Drachman attack, his automail arm took a sharp unsteady nosedive in terms of viability. He knew exactly what was wrong with it, but somehow that made it even more difficult to deal with. He despised the very notion of what needed to be done. However, sooner or later, he knew it would cause enough collective problems to escalate into an emergency situation. Sitting on the wet cement of an alley, far from comfortable, and surrounded by concerned individuals (none of whom could help him), it was dawning on him that the unfortunate outcome had indeed come sooner.

And to think he almost made that call _last night_.

"I'll give you props for holding out this long," Kelly told him, "but you gotta know when to call it quits. Call her tonight, or I'll come over tomorrow and make _sure_ you call her. Got it?"

"...Guys…" Edward huffed, "I need you to…"

His vision dimmed, and another wave of electricity arched through his nerves. He shook his head and took a quick breath. He had everyone's attention now.

"...call her _now_. Can someone… take me back home…?"

His flesh arm trembled until finally it gave out. Now on his back, his half-lidded gaze took in his teammates' faces as they filled with shock. The little stomach worm of shame and embarrassment that usually arrived in moments of weakness like this never came. He just closed his eyes and succumbed to the darkness, trusting his friends to do what needed to be done.

o.O.0.O.o

Edward woke with the sun. The orange beams streaming in through his North-facing window illuminated the little dust particles that hung in the air, swirling with every shift in the room. Edward nearly gave a start when he saw what looked like himself sitting in the green reading chair in the corner. Only a moment passed before a few important neurons connected and he recognized his brother. Alphonse was curled up with both feet tucked under himself, a small frown adorning his lips as he leafed through what appeared to be one of Fiona's romance novels. If Edward hadn't looked a little to his right, he could've mistaken this scene for his average morning.

But of course, he looked to his right and saw three other people. They were slumped in some chairs that had obviously been brought up from the kitchen table. Despite their horrifically discombobulated positions, he recognized them as Otto, Ernst, and Kelly. Otto had a column of drool hanging out of his mouth, with his head hung over the side of the armrest. Ernst's head was practically in his lap, his arms crossed over his chest, and his tailbone so far down the seat Edward wondered how the kid managed to avoid slipping out of the chair entirely. He couldn't see Kelly's face, which was hidden behind her shoulders as she curled up against the back spokes, but he recognized the bright green scrunchy that tied back her reddish hair.

As uncomfortable as his friends looked in those chairs, Edward was willing to bet a thousand cenz he felt worse. _Much_ worse. For starters, his shoulder felt like it spent the last few hours inside a blacksmith's forge. Every muscle in his body felt like molten lead. His skull pounded. His breathing was weak at best. When he tried to swallow, his throat felt like a lizard had been using it for a nest.

He glanced a little further to his right to see a glass sitting on his bedside table. The amber-colored liquid inside gleamed in the morning sun as condensation slipped down the sides. Remembering the grocery list Louis had gone over the morning before, Edward guessed it was apple cider from the R2 district farmer's market－the good stuff. If Edward had a drop of saliva left, his mouth would've watered as he reached his flesh arm over to grab the glass. He'd managed to down three gulp-fulls before a room occupant he hadn't seen sprung to life.

Buggie the cat-bird let out a screechy meow, rose from Edward's side, and padded around to head-butt his face. The teen set down the glass and ran his only hand through the animal's plumage, earning a loud rumbling purr. It wasn't long until Buggie's noises alerted Alphonse. He shut his book and stood.

With relief in his voice, he shouted, "Brother! You're awake!"

Ernst snorted and slipped onto the floor with a painful grunt. Otto muttered something about cheese ninjas before snapping awake. Kelly simply let out a groan and turned her bleary face towards the ruckus. By the time the three gathered their bearings, Alphonse was already standing by his bedside. Then he did something Edward didn't expect.

"FIONA! ED'S AWAKE!"

The shout rattled Edward's eardrums, but he barely had five seconds to recover before the alchemist pounded down the hall and burst into the room. She had dark circles around her eyes, unkempt hair, and she clutched a couple of wrinkled papers in her shaky hands.

"About time," the woman grumbled.

Then, without warning or further ado, she set one of the papers on his table and went to work. He felt her alchemy grip strong and clear as it overran a very specific section inside his head. Immediately, all the pain he'd been in melted away. He could feel tension he didn't know he was sanctioning leave his muscles. Fiona spent a minute or so working on him, and only once in that minute did Edward feel she was venturing somewhere in his head she shouldn't have. As if listening to his thoughts, Fiona gave a small nod and quickly moved away from it.

Once she was finished with the first circle, she flung the paper behind her without another ounce of acknowledgement and slapped the second onto the table. This time she laid her hand on his now numbed shoulder. He watched in awe as the metal crumbled apart. He couldn't feel anything, but he knew she was disconnecting his nerves, because after a while the metal fell away entirely. Even that little loose screw Fiona mentioned at some point slunked out before she ended the transmutation.

The teen sat up and stared at the metal pieces that had once served as his automail port. Then he ran his hand over his shoulder, which was completely healed over, as if his arm had only ever been amputated all those years ago. He looked up, intending to thank Fiona, but she was already out cold in Alphonse's reading chair. His friends, who were all standing and wide awake, crowded to his bedside with his brother.

Otto grinned. "Hey! Look who's awake and kickin' after all!"

"The Fullmetal Alchemist strikes back with vengeance," Ernst said, sharing his brother's grin.

Kelly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're okay! I thought you weren't going to make it through the night. Your breathing was so shallow."

Edward patted her back, trying his best to hide his blush. "Uh… thanks."

Alphonse cleared his throat, turning his head a little in a poor attempt to hide his secondhand embarrassment.

"I… hope you don't mind what Fiona did, Ed," he said, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I thought it was a good idea… for now. You know, until Winry gets here."

Edward's brow knit, and he looked down at his shoulder. Realization dawned on him a moment later. Fiona had probably made it very difficult for him to receive automail again. Winry told him that someone could only receive it if the severance was relatively fresh, with the nerves still exposed and firing. That's why he'd only had so much time to decide if he wanted it or not.

"It… it's fine," he decided. "It probably would've killed me before Winry got here."

Alphonse didn't look convinced, but he nodded. An uncomfortable silence filled the room for a while, until Otto clapped his hands together.

"Well," he began, "now that Eddo here isn't on Death's doorstep, let's make some plans, shall we?"

Edward rolled his eyes and laid back on his bed. "Otto, I'm in no condition for another meet. Even _I'll_ admit that."

Ernst tilted his head. "Who said anything about a meet? We're talking about the festival."

"Festival? What festival?"

Kelly smirked. "Why, Casier's annual Red Night Festival, of course. It's next week."

o.O.0.O.o

"I just don't see how this is going to work."

Winry tossed her wrench back onto the table and crossed her arms over her chest. She wore a grey tank top, denim shorts, and sandals instead of her usual mechanic's attire. The first time she came to Casier she learned the hard way how to dress, and she wasn't about to spend another muggy-ass day in a jumpsuit. And it was indeed muggy, even though all of the tower's windows were wide open. It didn't matter how much airflow they had, the space was still uncomfortably cramped. She wiped a bit of sweat from her brow before bending over to look at Louis's notes again.

"Can you just… walk me through it again?"

Louis gave her a sideways smile and spread the papers across the table again.

"Sure. So with the outer plating, I was thinking we could use some of that leftover titanium to make a pre-fabricated blade. You know, so Ed doesn't have to waste time making one with alchemy during a fight."

"Right."

"It's a blade, so it needs a sheath. I figured we could just attach it right around _here_ somewhere." He moved Winry's prototype arm a little closer to them and laid his hand on the outer tibia plate. "And when he needs to use the blade, we could have a release button somewhere. It'll spring out, kind of like a switch blade, and lock in place until the button is pressed again."

Winry rolled her eyes and sat down on the bench behind her. "And that's where you lose me. There's no way that could work."

She picked up one of the drawings. "This whole idea is also ignoring an important detail: what happens if Edward accidentally activates the blade? He could seriously hurt someone or himself."

Louis waved his hand dismissively. "When has Ed ever accidentally hurt anyone? I may not know him that well, but I _do_ know that kid is no joke. He has more control than I'll ever have."

He had her there. Winry bit her lip. "Well… I'm still not comfortable with the idea of a button. That's too easy."

"Alright then," he said with a nod. "Let's see..."

He sat down on the bench next to her and studied his drawings. His hair fell in front of his eyes, but she could see a frown pulling the corners of his mouth down. His goggles sat crooked on messy bangs, and he smelled like old laundry. He'd probably been working on the design for the last couple of days.

"Um," the teen ventured, "can I ask you something?"

His eyes flicked up in interest. "Shoot."

"Why is this so important to you? To give Edward a blade, that is."

Those eyes wandered towards the floor boards as he heaved a sigh.

"I won't lie to you, Winry." Then he paused. "It is Winry, right?"

She nodded.

"Cool. Anyway, I've been thinking about those two brothers lately. They've changed a lot since the day I met them. I noticed Edward's been… er, loosening up a bit, shall we say."

Winry snorted. "You think he's getting _soft_? Please. As if _that_ would ever happen."

He fixed her with a serious look. "You'd be surprised what Casier can do to us alchemists after a while. A lot of people blame the humidity. Personally, I think it's atmosphere. But I know this town: it tricks you into thinking you're safe, but you're anything but safe. One minute everything's fine, the next disaster strikes. I just want them to be prepared for that."

"What- what do you mean by that?" Her eyes swept the tower before she fixed the man with a slight glare. "Why wouldn't Casier be safe?"

He crossed his arms and leaned his back against the wall. His hair covered his face entirely. "Take it from someone who knows the city's rotten underbelly: there's _always_ something shifty going on here. It's only a matter of time before one thing or another boils over."


	13. Chapter 13

House of Echidna Ch. 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

Alphonse and Winry walked together towards the center of the city, taking in the magnificent sight that was Casier during the Red Night Festival. Banners and streamers lined every streetlamp, doorway, and subway rail. Confetti flashed in a million colors as it fluttered down from high windows, giving the illusion of stars despite the overcast skies. On an average day, people could be seen bustling about, generally in a flurry of rush and productivity. Now everyone looked relaxed and worry-free as they wandered the streets in no particular hurry, heading in no particular direction. They all wore bedazzled carnival masks, colorful robes with red sashes, and silly grins.

Alphonse wore his own silly grin while he took it all in.

He couldn't describe in words what it was like that first day. His brother had asked about it so many times since then, yet all he could come up with so far was _overwhelmingly humanizing_.

Most of the time Alphonse tried not to think about it. He preferred living again as opposed to dwelling on what was. He couldn't even bring himself to make comparisons as he enjoyed normal human activities. He just wanted to forget he was ever in that armor. He even washed off the seal and donated the hulking metal to May's friend, the one who had given them Ed's titanium scraps.

"_This piece is… well, magnificent!" the guy said. "It's an eighteenth century relic. Worn by the front-line forces of the Aerugonian providence, if memory serves. It's in superb condition, too. Probably worth twice its weight in gold."_

_He looked at Alphonse with incredulous eyes. "And you want me to scrap it?"_

_Alphonse crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes. Melt it down and never let me see the remaining metal again."_

The teen had stuck around just long enough to confirm the man honored his wishes. He never set foot in that warehouse since. He didn't tell anyone the real reason he'd done it: he was terrified that, by some cruel stroke of fate, he'd wind up inside that armor again. He'd seen enough of that vision in his nightmares.

When he explained he wanted to forget the whole thing, everyone seemed to respect that. He hadn't heard a peep about the armor or his time in it since. Edward and Winry had to occasionally catch themselves, but most of the time the conversation never ventured towards the forbidden subject anyway.

But every once in a while he caught himself thinking about it. Not necessarily about his time in the armor, but what came of the transmutation that freed him.

They passed a shop window. The lights were off inside, so he could see a colorless reflection of himself. Otto and Ernst told him being a twin was something to be proud of, and that it gave you advantages no twin-less person had (particularly in the practical joke department). But as Alphonse stared at his brother's likeness, he couldn't help feeling like he'd lost his identity.

At least in the armor he still sounded like himself. Now all he heard when he spoke was Ed's voice. Now all he saw when he looked in the mirror was Ed's face. He even had Ed's… erm, intestinal troubles from time to time. He tried not to feel down about it. He really did. But it was kind of hard not to when everyone kept asking "You _are_ Alphonse, right?"

He released a silent sigh and looked over at Winry, who was admiring the display of an automail shop across the street. Ed had no idea he felt this way, and Alphonse didn't want to give him another thing to worry about, what with his arm delima going on. He tried talking to George, but ever since the meeting with the Colonel the man-turned-dog seemed distracted. Alphonse didn't feel comfortable approaching Fiona or Louis. Victor was too young, and May had her own issues to work through. Winry was his last holdout.

"Hey, um, Winry?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I… Can I talk to you about something?"

That got her attention. Her eyes met his. "Of course, Al. What is it?"

He threw a few glances around them, checking for eavesdroppers. When he dubbed the area safe, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's just… I'm sorta tired of looking _exactly_ like Ed."

Her shoulders lowered and her eyes softened. A gentle smile pulled at her mouth. "Well that's an easy fix. I thought you were going to ask me for dating advice."

He felt his face grow hot. "What? No! I－"

Winry laughed. An easy, good natured laugh. One he hadn't heard from her in a long time. "Relax, I'm just messing with you. So you want to look different than Ed, right?"

Alphonse let out a huff and nodded. "I know I shouldn't let it bother me. It was the best choice, and Ed isn't ugly or anything, but…"

"Al," She stopped and put her hands on his shoulders, "you have every right to feel that way. You weren't born Ed's twin, and you're not used to getting mistaken for him. In fact, I'll bet it makes you feel like you're not _you_ anymore. But don't worry, there's a really simple solution for this."

"You sound like you know a lot about this."

"One of my pen-pals from Creta discovered she had an identical twin. She went through the same sort of thing."

He tilted his head. "You… have pen-pals?"

Winry frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "I have my own life, Al. Just because it's not as exciting as taking down crooks that doesn't mean it can't be interesting."

This time he let out his own laugh. "Fair enough. So what's this simple solution you're thinking of?"

o.O.0.O.o

Edward gazed down at the water, his knuckles white on the railing and a deep frown upon his lips. The boat zipped across the lake with incredible speed, but they couldn't get to their destination soon enough. Edward swallowed down another wave of nausea and looked away from the choppy waves.

It was almost sunset, but the clouds blocked out the reds, oranges, and yellows that usually decorated the sky about that time of night. He could barely hear the croaks of frogs and the buzz of winged insects over the roar of the boat's engine. Casier's famous humidity was in full swing, and his underarms weren't any better off for it. The Banner twins didn't look much better as they hovered over the controls and looked over the map, but their little sister squealed in delight every time they hit a particularly choppy patch.

"How much further?" Edward shouted over the wind.

Otto threw a glance back, a scowl decorating his face. "Uh… we're not sure."

"What- what do you mean by that? We're not lost are we?"

"No, not lost," Ernst assured him, not sounding very convinced himself. "Just directionally challenged."

The blond teen sighed and sat down on a stray cooler. He stared glumly at the stained carpet as a broken bottle rolled over his foot. They borrowed the boat from Kelly's uncle, who used it for revelry more than actual fishing. It was the only one they could snag after every other boat was rented out for the canal races. Edward checked his watch and his shoulders sagged.

They were supposed to meet a city official on the Northern docks in ten minutes, but they weren't even half way across the lake yet. The Banner twins were responsible for coordinating the fireworks show, but Edward himself didn't need to be there. For about the hundredth time that evening, Edward wondered how they managed to convince him to tag along.

Edward made to stand up and suggest they stop at the Eastern docks, but just as he set his hand on the rail again, an unseen force shoved him off the cooler. He spat out a poker chip and looked up to find everyone else with him on the carpet. The force felt like they'd hit another boat, yet they were completely alone.

"What was _that_?" Ernst shouted at last.

Otto opened his mouth and a shrill scream pierced the silence, but the sound didn't come from him.

Bonnie pointed out at the water and shrieked, "Over there!"

At first, Edward saw nothing but grey, glassy waves, like ones he'd been staring at all day. But then he squinted and made out a dark shape cutting the surf. About a second or so passed before realization dawned on him: it was a fin. It was coming straight for them at break-neck speed.

Suddenly a pair of jaws erupted out of the water. All Edward could see were the teeth, which were yellow, cracked, and covered in green moss. The jaws snapped shut as the rest of the body made an arc over the boat. Finally, it plunged back into the lake on the other side, the splash spraying all of them with warm, nasty lake water.

Ernst shoved the lever forward, the boat's engine responding immediately, but it was already too late.

The thing jumped out of the lake again, and this time Edward got a better look at it. It had the wide jaws of an alligator, a long thin body of a snake, and four scaly flippers for limbs. The tail widened at the very tip to form a fin not unlike a whale's. The animal was easily as long as an automobile, and pitch black scales covered its entire hide. In the dim light of the boat's lantern, Edward could just make out a glimmer of sheer hatred in its blood red eyes before it snapped its jaws shut and dove back into the water.

Unfortunately, Edward was so distracted looking at the thing he hadn't noticed what it was trying to (and succeeding in) doing until it had already been done. When he brought his eyes back to his fellow passengers, his stomach dropped: Bonnie was gone.

"BONNIE!"

The Banner twins' shared scream didn't even get a chance to ring his eardrums. By the time the sound hit his ears, his head hit the water.

o.O.0.O.o

For the third year in a row, Fiona decided to stay home during the Red Night Festival. While the others had left the Estate and dispersed into their plans for the evening, the alchemist ripped her lawn apart. The neighbors could probably hear her strangled screams and cries of anguish, but she didn't care. She brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, heaved a sigh, and took another running start at her "opponent."

The backyard looked like one of those giant combines came through and shredded everything in sight. What was left of her white privacy fences laid in smoking piles and strewn splinters. Her fountains resembled the Banner family's statue garden a month prior. With no grass to speak of, the exposed dirt jutted and fell in columns, creating the impression of an old Xingese irrigated mountainside torn apart by an earthquake.

On the other side of her personal wasteland stood a column of stone and dirt shaped to look like a man. Fiona wasn't nearly as skilled as Edward, so the features were crude at best, but she didn't mind. It served its purpose just fine.

She leaped over one last boulder and kicked off from a slanted land-slab, her foot sailing straight for the earth-dummy's deformed face, when suddenly the dummy disappeared.

Fiona hit the dirt with a painful "oomph," and her knee exploded with pain. She clamped her jaw shut and hissed as she carefully turned to look at her opponent. What she saw next made her gasp.

The stone model had been knocked (or slid?) onto its side and dragged down into one of the pits. The head, completely unmarred otherwise, stuck halfway out of that pit, the face seemingly mocking her. The alchemist threw glances around her, but found no one or thing that could've moved it like that. She was completely alone.

Fiona sat up. A painful screech escaped her when she bent her knee the wrong way, but she hadn't sustained any other injuries as far as she could tell. She was just about to try and hoist herself up when suddenly the back door slid open.

Four paws pounded the wood, and the next thing she knew George stood at her side.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Then his eyes bugged. "Ack! What happened to your knee?!"

She opened her mouth to answer, but then a thought occurred to her.

"Wait. Were you watching me at all? Did you see what happened?"

He tilted his head. "No. I just heard a couple of suspicious screams and came running."

Fiona sighed. She threw one last glare at the statue in the pit before wobbling to her feet. George slipped under her left hand before she could tip over, and together they walked back into the house.

Once Fiona was safely sitting on the couch in the foyer, George ran upstairs to get the first aid kit. While he was gone, she thought about him and how he'd been acting lately. She had her suspicions as to the cause, and she didn't like them. Not necessarily for _what_ they were, but more so _why_ they were. When the dog returned with the white plastic box hanging from his mouth, Fiona sank further into the seat cushions and took a deep breath.

"George," she said before she could change her mind, "we need to talk."

His shoulders tensed and he froze. He swiveled his ears back and lowered his head under her unwavering gaze. About five seconds of silence crawled by before finally he dropped the box and said, "I… Oh, look at the time! I need to go do a… a thing…"

"George."

"It'll just take an hour－"

"_George_…"

"The plants won't water themselves, you know…"

"_DAD_!" Fiona shouted, bringing her fist down on the coffee table.

The dog winced and recoiled, as if someone had just slapped him hard in the face. He looked up to meet her gaze, and his eyes were wide.

"Fiona, I－"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" she demanded.

He lowered his head. When he opened his mouth, she beat him to it.

"Do you have _any_ idea how it felt… to lose you?" Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. It didn't help much. "It was bad enough when… when Mom died."

She curled on her side and turned to face the door. Hot liquid spilled down her cheeks. "Then, when you disappeared I thought, 'Who's next? Louis? May?' I just… didn't know what to do. I couldn't stop any of it. I felt completely useless."

The dog sat on his haunches, but didn't say anything right away. For about ten minutes, the foyer was filled with her quiet cries. When she snorted and wiped her face, he finally let out a sigh of his own.

"I did it to protect myself… and you, to an extent." When he was met with a blank stare he continued. "I planned on telling you after you fixed me. But then I thought better of it. Fiona, I had a bounty on my head. There's a reason I got turned into a chimera, and there's a reason I decided not to come back as myself. I didn't want to see you get hurt because of _me_."

"The Drachmans," Fiona blurted. "Those soldiers were after _your_ work."

George nodded. "I was a spy for them. They sent me here to study bio-alchemy, and your mother's father was the perfect teacher. When I reported back what I found, and they told me what they planned to do with my findings… I fled. Eventually they tracked me down and turned my own research against me. They know I'm still alive and they know about you, Fiona."

"So, until they get what they want, they'll just keep coming back… right?"

Another nod.

Fiona shut her eyes tight and let out a sigh through her nose. "I've been training in the backyard. It's not going to be enough is it?"

The dog shook his head. "God help us all when they get impatient. They'll do _anything_ to get the rest of my research. They'll even destroy Casier if they have to."


	14. Chapter 14

House of Echidna Ch. 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

o.O.0.O.o

Louis eyed Victor's footsteps as they made their way from C5 Street to F2 Avenue. While the roads and sidewalks on the surface were packed with crowds and rowdy revelers, their pathways below were deserted. However, just because the way was clear, that didn't make it any less dangerous. Louis had to step forward and catch his nephew more than a few times. Tripping on broken cobblestone down in the sewers typically meant falling into the river of nastiness. Besides keeping a close eye on his sister's son, he also kept his eyes peeled for their exit. The toxic gasses were just starting to tickle his throat, but he was a grown man. Victor had outright coughed three times already. They were running out of time.

Despite all this though, Victor wore a huge toothy grin. He shrieked in delight every time a rat scurried across their path. He laughed when they entered a particularly gross section and his galoshes made that suction sound with every step through the muck. Louis was glad that at least the kid was having a good time, because the business deal he'd just struck turned out less-than-stellar for him the more he thought about it.

Louis was thankful that Victor agreed to come along. He didn't understand anything Louis and his business partner discussed, and he made for an excellent excuse to take an early leave. Louis liked Dr. Yturi as much as the next black marketeer, but his stench… The sewers smelled like a fresh summer breeze in comparison.

Now all they had to do was return to the surface and head home. The manhole Louis picked out ahead of time laid in a relatively deserted part of the city, so they wouldn't accidentally topple over a pedestrian on their way out. Although the thought was funny, the three days in the courthouse jail wouldn't be.

"Hey Uncle Louis?" Victor suddenly asked.

"Hmm?"

"What's going to happen when you run out of those burning sticks? Wouldn't that stop people from buying the stuff you just traded for?"

Louis stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. He whipped his head down to look at his nephew, his mouth hanging open with no words on his tongue.

Finally, after gathering his wits again, he said, "You speak Cretan?!"

The kid nodded. "Cretan _and_ Amestrian."

The man blinked in disbelief. Louis and his family came from Cretan ancestry, but as far as he knew no one else but him had actually bothered to study the language. He knew his sister and her husband visited friends in Creta often, but Élise didn't invest in learning something unless she planned on using it extensively.

"Victor," Louis said, "are you and your parents going to move to Creta? You know… Permanently?"

"Yup," he told him without hesitation. "When I go back with them for the winter we're leaving."

Louis wasn't sure how he felt about that. Élise hadn't told him anything about it yet. Did she plan to tell him at all?

"So… we won't see each other much anymore."

The kid looked up at him and smiled. "Don't worry, Uncle Louis. Dad says we'll visit three times a year." He grinned and held up three fingers to exaggerate his point.

The rest of their trek through the sewers was spent in silence as Louis mulled over the new information. He thought about what it would be like at the Estate without Victor, or even the Elric brothers for that matter. Not to mention May's relationship with that guy from the bar was just starting to bud into a real romance. Pretty soon it might just be him and Fiona.

He'd just laid his hand on the first ladder rung leading up to their destination when suddenly a noise brought him out of his melancholy.

Up ahead, down the dark corridor leading to F3 Street, his ears made out sharp scuffling against the cobblestone. It would've been cause for him to scoop up Victor and book it up the ladder, since alligators weren't an uncommon sight down there, but something stopped him. Victor opened his mouth to say something, but Louis clamped his hand over it and held him close. The man listened intently, wondering what the hell could be making that noise.

All of the blood in his body turned to ice when he finally identified it: a mutilated, baritone caw of a bird. It was mixed with something similar to a hiss, and Louis knew exactly what was coming down that corridor.

A thousand volts of electricity lit up his nerves, and his body sprung into action without him, but it wasn't fast enough. Victor screamed under his hand about halfway up the ladder, and the concrete holding the rungs burst apart. The two landed right on top of the chimera. Their weight was enough to stun it, but not for long. It shook its head, sending dust and rubble spewing everywhere before it growled and stepped forward into the light. The sight would forever haunt Louis in his nightmares.

The… thing was covered in a patchy mixture of bright orange feathers and green scales. It stood on thick, scaly trunks that served as back legs, while the front limbs were non-functional wings tipped with eagle talons. The head had a huge misshapen beak that could probably rip a sheet of solid pig iron to shreds. Huge sail-like spines traced down its back, all the way to the tip of the tail, which was capped with a globe of flesh bristling with needle-like spines.

It roared and lurched forward.

Louis wasn't sure how long they ran. He'd lost his sense of direction somewhere back in the B district. They stopped at an unmarked crossing when Louis finally decided they'd lost the monster. The ladder leading up to who-knew-where was horribly rusted but intact. A few seconds later, though, Louis came to regret stopping to catch their breath.

The noise emerged once again, but this time it was coming from all four directions. They were surrounded. Louis didn't bother waiting to see the creatures before grabbing Victor and vaulting up the ladder to freedom.

o.O.0.O.o

May stood arm-in-arm with her date on a large wooden platform. Briefly, she wondered how the structure avoided buckling under the sheer weight. There were enough people on the network of docks to fill an entire subway train. The adults stood in groups while they laughed and socialized. The kids ran amok unsupervised as they chased each other with sparklers. Leftover confetti fluttered in the wind, lodging in the trees, collecting on the water's surface, and occasionally making an appearance in someone's food or drink. The maid laughed every time she saw a bug-eyed expression, which was usually followed by either a spit-take or an uncomfortable-looking swallow.

The fireworks were late, but that didn't mean much. There were years they arrived hours late. The people of Casier didn't really care about the fireworks. Most of the crowds gathered solely for the festival food, anyway. But that night May had been counting on them, if only to keep Finn's eyes on the sky and not her.

"May look," he said, pointing down towards the put in.

She looked just in time to see a poor unfortunate soul swallow a clump of glitter along with her cocktail. The girl upchucked, spilling the colorful nastiness all over the front of her white festival robes. May threw back her head and let out a good hearty laugh of amusement. Then she quickly coughed and cleared her throat, turning away from her date.

He sighed. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"Pulling away. Like you're trying not to enjoy yourself. Why _is_ that?"

"Finn…"

When she didn't respond otherwise, he circled around to meet her gaze. His brow was relaxed but his eyes burned with curiosity and frustration.

"Is it－ Is it something I'm doing? Or saying? May, please talk to me."

He might as well have stabbed in her in the gut. She shut her eyes tight, and she felt her bottom lip quiver.

"I…" She swept their surroundings with her eyes. "Can we go somewhere more private?"

"Of course," he agreed. "Let's go, um, _this_ way."

Once they reached the sidewalk, Finn led her away from the crowds and towards one of the city's vacant parks. As they walked, May kept her arms crossed over her chest, and her shawl pulled tight around her shoulders. It was made of silk, which matched the skimpy red dress Fiona convinced her to wear. She shivered both in the chill of the evening and at the thought of all the… altercations Fiona may have had while wearing the outfit. Even though the alchemist's days of stripping and exotic dancing were long over, the dress would never be washed enough times.

Besides feeling like one of Fiona's former co-workers, May also felt incredibly guilty. Finn was… well, he was _amazing_.

He turned out to be so much more than the typical bartender-hottie. He may have acted and looked the part, but off the clock he was just an average guy with average life expectations. He wanted to move out of the city, settle down on some property, and build a farm. His favorite foods included anything of and relating to soup, and he enjoyed driving automobiles. Despite having an atrocious amount of siblings, he and his family were close. In fact, their first date was spent double-dating with his twelve-year-old brother Paul and his school sweetheart Barbra.

In addition to being a real down-to-earth guy, he was also hot with a capital "H." May always had a weak spot for blonds with green eyes. He had the whole package going for him.

Unfortunately, that "whole package" included something she knew she couldn't take part of. May always had the same problem with guys. She figured after so many heinous break-ups she would learn how to let them down easy. But no matter what tactics or timing she tried, she couldn't avoid breaking someone's heart. Most of the time, it was her own.

Once Finn stopped and motioned for her to sit on the bench next to him, she sucked in a light gasp. Knowingly or not, the man had brought her to her favorite spot in the whole city: A1 Park, square in the center of the pear tree grove. She fell into the bench more than she sat, and she met his unwavering eyes.

"How did you know?"

His blond brow furrowed. "Know what?"

"Where to bring me. This place is where my mother used to take me before she…" May cleared her throat. "Before she passed on."

Finn straightened, his eyes wide. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay. Really."

A few minutes of awkward silence passed between them before the man coughed.

"So, why _do_ you pull away like that?"

She shut her eyes, pain pulling at her face, before she sighed.

"I-I'm not normal, Finn."

"Well, shoot. Who is? What's that got to do with anything?"

"I _mean_ it, Finn. Please believe me when I say it's not you, it's me."

The smile that had crinkled his eyes a moment before slipped away. He sat forward. "Okay."

"I'm just going to come right out and say it: I can't have kids."

May looked straight into his eyes and braced herself for his reaction. But his response was far from what she'd been expecting: he grinned.

"Neither can I."

She blinked. As she watched, his shoulders sagged, releasing tension she hadn't noticed until then. Before she knew it, the man took a soothing breath and let out a little laugh.

"I'm basically a dud," he told her. "The doctors said I'll never be able to sire a child of my own."

A few moments later, her brain caught up with her body and her own shoulders dropped.

"M-My family has a long history of terminal illness," she muttered. Her voice sounded hoarse even to her own ears. "I'm a carrier, but so far I've been spared. Any child I have might not be, though."

"Sounds like the feeling is mutual then."

Finn got up from the bench and held his hand out for her. She took it and let him pull her to her feet. He immediately wrapped his arms around her, heaving a big sigh. May, not wanting to spoil the moment with the "whole" truth, relaxed into his chest and reciprocated. After he let go of her, he met her eyes and smirked.

"Let's head back to the festival. The fireworks are starting."

True to his word, when May turned around she saw a single flare of red rocket towards the heavens. It burst into a million shades of crimson, and the rest of the show followed.

A genuine smile spread across her lips. She laced her finger with his and they walked out of the park together. The moment would've been perfect. Unfortunately, what happened next would ruin much more than just her date, given due time.

As soon as May set foot onto the sidewalk, the nearest manhole cover soared into the air, as quickly and easily as a champagne cork.

o.O.0.O.o

The Banner twins had to basically carry Edward off the boat when they reached the docks. Thanks to Louis's blade, the blond was able to free Bonnie from the monster's jaws, but getting back to the surface again cost him his automail leg. The two lugged him along like an oversized duffle bag as the medical people helped Bonnie onto the dock.

"She'll be fine," one of the men told them. "Just a few shallow gouges and a twisted ankle. Nothing a little time won't heal."

The Banner twins shared a look of relief. They set Edward down on a nearby bench and slumped into it on either side of him.

"Man," Otto said, "that was wicked. Not in a good way either. What the frick-frack was that _thing_ doing in the lake?"

Ernst crossed his arms and heaved a sigh. "Beats me. I've never seen that kind of animal before."

"It's a chimera," Edward grumbled.

The twins both turned to look at him.

"A _what_ now?" They asked in unison.

"You know… two or more animals spliced together with alchemy."

Horror struck Ernst's face. Otto turned a little green.

"No way," Ernst stated. "The chimeras at your house don't look like that. They're not monsters."

"Yeah, like that little cat-bird thing. She's cute even!"

Edward shrugged. "Sometimes they're cute, sometimes they're not. Fiona has been lucky, and she hasn't had any nasty ones like that for a while."

The twins shared an uneasy glance before falling silent. It stayed quiet between them until the medical professionals finished patching Bonnie up. She limped over to them and spread herself across Otto's lap, a sour pout on her face.

"Can we go home now?" she whined.

"I'll take Ed home, and you'll take Bonnie home?" Ernst asked.

Otto nodded. After he stood up and slung Bonnie over his shoulder, they headed off towards the H district. Once they were out of sight, Ernst let out another sigh and stood.

"You ready, man?"

Edward would've rather slept on that bench all night than get towed through town like an invalid, but he bit down his bitterness and nodded. Ernst wasted no time in looping his arm under his shoulders, and before he knew it they were off.

Edward thought that would be the end of his long and pitiful night. But the closer they got to the B district, the worse the city got. He'd thought it looked pretty shoddy when it was vacant, but the sight of an empty Casier was nothing compared to a slightly-occupied colossus of widespread panic. Finally, after hobbling through a few more districts, they stopped and stared, completely gob-smacked, at the site spread out before them. Suddenly, Edward understood what all the fuss was about, and it made his skin crawl.

Casier's citizens weren't just running around in a panic. They were running from _chimeras_. Clinging to the sides of buildings, swinging from the telephone wires, scuttling across the pavement, dive-bombing through the air, and patrolling the canals were dozens of chimeras. Edward watched in horror as a woman took cover inside an abandoned automobile, only to have her shelter crushed like an aluminum can under the scaly foot of an elephant-crocodile. Not even twenty feet away was a little kid (a boy no older than three) screaming bloody murder as a snake-weasel coiled its thick furry body around his chest. To his left, Edward noticed an old couple clinging to each other as a tiger-eagle cornered them, its mouth foaming and teeth flashing as it prepared to pounce.

Ernst's grip on him slipped, and they both fell to the sidewalk.

"Holy _shit_, man," Ernst mutter through his daze. "We gotta get out of here!"

He should've kept his mouth shut. A bear-hog that had been minding its own business (tearing someone's arm off) turned its bloody snout towards the sound of his voice. The thing lost interest in the moaning man on the pavement and focused on them. Edward's heart leaped into his throat when it scraped its front hoof on the ground, gearing itself up for a charge.

Ernst heaved himself to his feet and made to grab Edward by the arm, but he wasn't fast enough. Edward braced himself for Truth.

Truth that never came.

Edward had his eyes shut tight, but he heard the clang of the metal pole smacking into the chimera's skull. He opened his eyes in time to see the thing's body skitter off and slam into a trashcan. The bear-hog shook the rotten trash off its back before running off. When Edward looked up to thank his savior, he had to refrain from gasping.

Standing straight above him was a rugged, battle-worn young man. He wore a torn trench coat with a red festival shirt underneath, a pair of scorched cargo shorts, and nothing for shoes. A broken flag pole was clutched in his white-knuckled grip, and a soot-smudged scowl of pure loathing decorated his face as he scanned their surroundings; a face that was almost completely covered by stringy brown hair in the fluttering wind. Finally, he wiped his bangs away from his face and grinned down at him.

"How's it going, Ed?"

Edward choked and coughed before sputtering, "_Alphonse_?!"


	15. Chapter 15

House of Echidna Ch. 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTES, PLEASE READ!**

**Dear readers, this is the last chapter. Although I'm stopping this story at a horrible spot, I'm marking it as complete on the site and I am not writing any more content for it. And before you call blasphemy on me, or try to encourage me to change my mind, please know that I'm doing this for several reasons.**

**One: I'm not driven to write any more content. I should have stopped as soon as I fixed Al, because that's literally all I wanted out of this story. After that I lost all motivation to write more, and I should've listened. **

**Two: Since the initial purpose of the story has been realized, the rest of it is slowly spiraling into chaos. The more I write, the more I realize this story is going nowhere. If I gave it my full attention and effort, and pulled plot lines out of my butt, this story would wind up taking itself somewhere I never intended it to, and at around 50 chapters probably. My ADHD brain just can't stick it out that long.**

**Three: I'm done writing fan fiction. It was a fantastic tool for developing my skills when I was but a small young lamb, but I'm older now. I've written a lot. Not all of it saw the light of day, but I posted enough to learn from mistakes and take critique. I'm ready to write original work now. **

**I sincerely apologize to each and every reader that followed this story. I know there are a lot of authors who do/did this and now I'm just another author who has broken your heart and betrayed your trust. I used to hate this back when I read fan fiction. But now I see how people can come to do this, and I sympathize with them. **

**Again, I'm sorry this story had to end like this. I hope the last chapter doesn't bum you out too much. :(**

o.O.0.O.o

Fiona leaned up against the overturned automobile, breathing hard and clutching her weapon to her chest. The cold metal on her back sent shivers through her body, but the rogue street fire three feet away seared her arm and the side of her face. If she really concentrated, she could imagine being back home safe, maybe in her basement huddling next to a heat lamp with her remaining six chimeras.

The sound of static brought her out of her musings. She snapped her jaw shut in frustration and held down a button on the radio clipped to her belt.

"I thought we fixed this channel, guys," she whispered. "It's going to compromise me over here."

A few seconds later, Colonel Mustang's lowered voice came over the static. "We did what we could, Ms. Kuhn. This is the channel we were given, so we need to make the best of it."

"Our best isn't enough."

With that grim statement, she crouched down some more and steeled herself for another horrific sight. She gathered her courage and peeked around the car's fender. About twenty yards away down the street a wolf-moose stood facing away from Fiona. She didn't need to glance down to figure out what it was chewing on. To the right of the chimera laid another overturned vehicle, but this one had no glass in the windows. Inside the upside-down cabin a shadowed figure sat in a tight ball, wisely not making any noise as it watched the beast in paralyzed fear.

Fiona recognized the shadowed figure as one of the girls Ed used to play wreck-it ball with. Her reddish hair was unmistakable. What was her name? Karen? Keely?

Either way, it was Fiona's job to take down the chimera and escort the girl back to the city's fallout shelters. She took a deep breath and cranked the pump on her gun.

Immediately, the animal's head jerked up, but its evil beady eyes identified Fiona's position a moment too late. Three darts hit home in its back left leg, and five seconds later the thing crashed to the cement. It fell in a discombobulated position with its tongue hanging out of its mouth. Fiona would've laughed if the situation had been any less dire.

Wasting no time, Fiona scurried out from behind the car towards the girl. She would've made it, too, if it hadn't been for the second chimera. A wall of red tackled her, and her gun skittered across the pavement. Suddenly Fiona was on her back, a leopard-hawk that looked nothing like Buggie growl-screeching mere feet above her face. The thing planted a paw on her chest, slowly sinking its talons between her ribs. She wanted to scream, but she knew that would only excite the animal into killing her faster (and she'd seen that scenario play out enough times that week to know).

Out of the corner of her dimming vision, she saw the girl slipping out from under the car. Fiona wanted to yell at her to stop, and get back under the car, but she couldn't without giving her away. She watched helplessly as the girl crept closer to the chimera.

Meanwhile, warm foam from the monster's toothy maw dripped down onto her cheek. At first, she wanted to give way to instinct and upchuck her lunch, but then her skin started to burn. She couldn't hold back a light hiss as the substance sizzled atop her skin, as if it were acidic.

_Venom_, Fiona thought. _This thing is a snake, too._

Sure enough, when she found the courage to glance up at its face, she saw the slitted yellow eyes and the triangular-shaped skull of a reptile.

Apparently, it saw her gaze as an invitation to finish her off, because it scrunched its snout up and drew its head back. Fiona shut her eyes and turned her head, expecting her throat to be ripped open, but nothing happened.

When she opened her eyes again, the animal tilted its head, its eyes half-lidded. Then before she knew it, the animal toppled over onto its side, taking its fifty-pound paw with it. Fiona sucked in a gasp and howled as the claws came out at last.

The girl stood about ten feet away, the barrel of Fiona's gun smoking in her shaky grasp. Fiona was about to grin and thank her, but suddenly a voice came over the radio.

"Fiona! Kelly!" came Edward's concerned tone. "Are you two alright?"

Across the street, the teen stood hand-in-hand with two young children, his own gun slung over his back. The little boy had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, but he looked fine otherwise. The girl on the other hand was incredibly pale, her arm in a makeshift sling stained with crimson. Edward's face was scraped up, and he stood with most of his weight on his automail leg, but he didn't seem any worse off than the boy.

To Fiona's surprise, Kelly bent down and took the radio.

"I'm okay but Fiona's hurt," she whispered into it.

She growled and tried to get up. "I'm fine, I just need to- AH! Nope. Definitely not fine…"

Fiona could see Edward's eye-roll from across the street. Within minutes, they'd dragged her behind another car and regrouped.

"I found a lead," Edward stated, though he didn't sound very happy about it. "I think I can stake it out for another night, but I'll need back-up. Downtown is already spread thin, and now we've just lost Fiona here."

The alchemist scowled but didn't say anything.

"I'll take her place," Kelly assured him. "I've got your back, Ed."

He thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Alright. We need to get these kids back to the base, and-"

His words cut off and he fell silent. Then his gaze caught something down by the subway tunnel. Fiona furrowed her brow and turned her head towards it. She had to refrain from making an audible gasp.

A lion-gorilla held something in its front paws as it hobbled over to the tunnel. The sight didn't give much away, but the sound did: it was a live human, sounding incredibly terrified but not necessarily injured. They watched it disappear down the stairs, and Edward narrowed his eyes.

"I'm going after it. That's exactly where my lead is."

Kelly opened her mouth to protest, but Edward was already half way across the road.

"Take Fiona and the kids back to the base, Kelly," he muttered over the radio.

Without another word, the teen disappeared down the tunnel, leaving Fiona and Kelly staring after him in shock.

o.O.0.O.o

Edward didn't remember much when he woke, but his body sure did. The space directly behind his eyes periodically surged with stabbing pain, as if someone had filled his sinuses with acid and steel nails. His flesh leg was almost completely numb, and what he _could_ feel buzzed with pins and needles. His midsection stung with open (likely infected) wounds that looked suspiciously like claw marks. A horrible sour taste in his mouth nearly made him gag. Edward almost didn't want to open his eyes.

Almost.

He was in a small stone room. It had three walls and another side facing out into complete darkness. A series of rusty bars connected to a closed metal door was bolted to the two side walls, sealing the exit. A single torch fastened to the back wall flickered and sputtered, threatening to go out at the slightest draft. Somewhere to his right he heard the soft trickle of flowing water; probably some kind of plumbing or irrigation. He couldn't see much on the floor in the dim light and dancing shadows, but judging from the stench creeping up his nose he had some deceased company.

After taking all this in, Edward tried to stand. Before he could make it halfway upright, a force stopped him and he fell back onto his knees. That's when he noticed the nail in the coffin: he was chained to the floor.

"_ARGH_!" he all but screamed. "Whoever you are I'm going to pound you into the ground so hard they won't even need to dig a grave! Now come out and face me!"

His cries echoed a lot further than he expected. It took five whole seconds for them to get back to him, and in that time he got no response. Slowly, he sank back to the floor. Lowering his head and shutting his eyes, he tried not to let total despair overwhelm him.

It didn't work.

His heart pounded as he flitted through what he could recall from… whenever he'd last been conscious. He remembered meeting up with Fiona and Kelly at the F5 and G2 crossing, then some hazy images of him creeping through the subway tunnels following the gorilla chimera, and finally a bright green light overtaking his field of vision. After that… nothing.

The teen quickly took stock of himself, checking for his radio, his weapon, and his emergency flairs. Also nothing.

Edward cursed under his breath. Whoever (or whatever) had captured him wasn't stupid enough to leave anything useful on or near him. All he had now was his alchemy. He glanced up at the cracked ceiling and another wave of dread settled over him. He had no idea how much stone, dirt, water, or concrete laid above him; for all he knew he could be under the lake, or a city block packed tight with skyscrapers. Using his alchemy to bust himself out might be his last mistake.

"The C5 Street cathedral," a sudden voice said.

Edward jumped as high as his chains would allow. He whipped his head to and fro but he saw no one. The voice laughed, clearly amused with him. It sounded grated and rough, like a knife scraping against sandpaper. The voice was definitely a woman's.

"That's what's up there," she explained, "in case you were wondering."

"Who are you?!" Edward growled, remembering his rage from earlier. "And what do you want with me?"

"Who am I? I'm not all that sure anymore. It's been too long since I've visited the surface."

For a moment she was quiet. Then she cleared her throat and continued, "As for what I want with you, that's simple enough: I want you to stay down here for some time."

Edward reeled his head back a little. "Some time? Not… forever?"

"Goodness no. I've got enough corpses lying around, thank you. No, I only need you to stay long enough to lure one of my old projects back to me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Think of yourself like a mouse trap. Once I catch my pesky rodent, you're free to go. Unless, of course, she doesn't show up at all. I'll give her… let's say a month. Yes, a month. If she doesn't find you in that time, I can assume she's given up. And then I suppose I'll continue my project with _you_, since you're already here."

Edward clenched his jaw, and his flesh limbs shook. An ungodly amount of anger filled him. "Who? Who am I the bait for?"

When the woman spoke next, he could hear the wide grin in her voice.

"Why, your alchemy instructor, Edward. Fiona Kuhn."

o.O.0.O.o

Roy slammed the telephone down on its stand, making everyone in the room jump. Ignoring the stares he was getting, he leaned back in his chair and covered his eyes with his hand. He wondered how many more calls he could take before he threw his hat in the ring. Despite how well they'd been doing these last few weeks, some international back-up sounded pretty good to him. At least then maybe they could get the mobs under control and focus on their search and rescue efforts.

He gave the apartment a quick once over. Not much had changed since the invasion hit. Pictures still hung proud on the walls, depicting happy memories of the family that used to live there. The original furniture, while rearranged umpteen times, was all intact and present. Even the atmosphere hadn't changed much. Wisps of cinnamon still hung in the air, as if any minute "mom" would call the family in for pie.

Honestly, Roy welcomed it. It kept his head on straight. It reminded him why he was here, and what he was fighting for. He hoped that, against all odds, the city would make it through this nightmare and the family could come back.

His men didn't appear to be so optimistic. Next to the window, Havoc had his nose buried deep in some reports from the East side, his lit cigarette abandoned in an ashtray on the window sill. Breda hunched over the coffee table, pulling at his collar as he ignored his half-eaten slice of toast. Falman crouched on the kitchen floor and threw a turkey leg in a little tin bowl for the Banner family's cat, Bear-Bear. Even the most energetic member of the squadron, Fuery, laid snoring over his table of radio equipment, the drool hanging out of his mouth threatening to soak the control panel.

All in all, it looked like just another day at their little makeshift command center. Roy rose from his chair and sighed. He'd been about to excuse himself for a restroom visit when a knock at the door stopped him short.

His men perked up, but not in the happy sense. They each grabbed a riffle and stood behind him. Roy carefully peered through the little glass peephole in the door, and his shoulders sagged.

With a wave of his hand, the guys let out sighs of relief before returning to their activities.

"Come in, Al."

When he kid came into full view, the Colonel had to resist the urge to wince. He looked like absolute shit. And that was saying something, since they'd all been living in a war zone for the last month.

Al's hair was a complete rat's nest, as it hadn't seen shampoo or even a brush in days. The natural blond was already sprouting from his roots, so it kind of resembled a root beer float if Roy really used his imagination (Get it? _Root_ beer float?) His eyes were glazed and thoughtless, his clothes were ripped to rags and barely clinging to his battered body, and he was effectively barefoot. A dirty crumpled-up paper fluttered in his loose grip.

Roy swallowed. During the last few weeks, Roy sought solace in his own inner humor. But nothing he could think of muted the pure, unadulterated sorrow rolling off the young man standing before him.

"Hello, Colonel," he said with a forced-sounding lightness in his tone. "I have that report you wanted."

"Thank you, Al," he said, taking the crumpled paper.

There wasn't much on it. Just some disjointed sentences and a crude map of the city's D, E, and F districts. A smudged signature stained the bottom, but he couldn't make out the name.

"Anything to report yourself?"

"Y-Yeah. Yeah, let's see. I, uh, deconstructed Lander Memorial Bridge and barricaded the tunnel. Took a team to the canals and we neutralized the gator problem for now. Oh, and I found a troop of Acorn Scouts camping about a mile outside the city limits. I couldn't help them, but I sent the E10 escort team a heads up… I hope they made it to the shelters."

The kid spoke in a tight, quick voice, as if every word hurt to say. Now that Roy thought about it, speaking probably reminded him of his missing brother. Even though he'd made an effort to look different, he still _sounded_ exactly the same as Edward. Roy cleared his throat.

"Well done. I'll see you in another few days. In the mean time, I… I found another lead for you. It's not much, and you don't have to take it if you don't want to, but-"

"Colonel," he interrupted, "we've been through this. I'm _never_ going to turn down a lead. Even if it drags me through hell and back to come back empty-handed, I'm not going to give up. Whatever you have for me I'll gladly take it."

At first, all he could do was blink in mild astonishment. Then he managed a small, meager smile despite it all. "Glad to hear it."

He plucked a cleaner sheet of paper off the kitchen table and handed it to him, which the kid took gratefully and sat down on the couch to read it. As his gold eyes scanned the page, they widened more and more. Finally, he reached the end and looked up at him.

"Colonel," he said, his tone changing, "did you read this whole thing?"

Roy furrowed his brow. "Not really. Why?"

The kid stood up so fast he gave himself a bout of vertigo. "Ed's cloak… they found it! It's at the C5 Street cathedral!"


End file.
